3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ fiery win over New Orleans Pelicans

Grayson Allen stepped up for the shorthanded Milwaukee Bucks, but his ongoing 3-point slump persisted

After a scorching hot start to the season, Grayson Allen cooled off mightily throughout December, having struggled to find a rhythm offensively. With the Bucks missing a slew of rotational players, they needed Allen to step up and finally end this slump. Some of his best basketball tends to come when Milwaukee is missing some personnel due to his usage increasing, which proved true in last night’s game as he delivered a solid performance.

Allen started the contest by knocking down a 3-pointer to get the Bucks on the scoreboard, which looked to be a good sign early on. Following that make, the guard continued to be aggressive with the basketball throughout the game, which is something that Bucks fans have been asking to see from him for the past few games. Whether it was out on the perimeter or when he took it inside to score, it was welcoming to see Allen hunt for shots, especially on this acrobatic finish.

After 31 minutes, Allen finished with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the floor. The guard had scored a combined 14 points over his previous four games combined, and it was welcoming to see him exceed that number in a single outing. The same goes for his 3-point shooting, as he knocked down four in this matchup compared to just three over the previous four games. It was far from an outstanding shooting night from 3-point range as Allen went just 4-of-12, but to see him let it fly with confidence once again was reassuring.

Though his hot start might have tricked some into believing that there would be no growing pains for Allen, he is undoubtedly experiencing some. The sharpshooter is still looking for his niche when the Bucks are at full-strength, but that is something that should come with time. As long as Allen continues to shoot it with confidence like he did last night, things will get better as the year goes on. Hopefully Allen can leave his shooting slump in 2021 and continue playing great basketball in 2022, as he could be an X-factor for Milwaukee’s title hopes.