3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ blowout loss to Denver Nuggets
By Dalton Sell
Quiet nights for Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton doomed the Milwaukee Bucks
After solid performances against the Knicks, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton struggled to assert themselves against the Nuggets. Unfortunately, that proved to be disastrous for the Bucks as the subpar showings from the pair hurt the team drastically.
Holiday was quiet with his scoring as he tallied just 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, with all three of those misses coming from 3-point range. The guard’s nine shot attempts were far less than his typical 14.6 on average for the season as he did not look as aggressive as usual last night. Though he did not have a normal scoring outing, the floor general did hand out eight assists in the game, but it came with a grueling five turnovers attached. It was an incredibly tough all-around performance for Holiday as he finished with a +/- of -20 in his 31-and-a-half minutes, the second-worst on the team behind just Bobby Portis.
Despite the turnovers, Holiday still managed to play better than Khris Middleton, who was mostly a non-factor throughout his 27 minutes played. The forward scored just nine points on eight shot attempts, far below his season average of around 15 shots per game. Nine points from Middleton will rarely get the job done, and it proved detrimental for the champs in this one. While he also did make an impact with his facilitating by dishing out seven assists, Middleton also had a turnover issue as he notched three for the game. He finished with a -16 +/- against the Nuggets.
It certainly did not help that Giannis Antetokounmpo struggled to find a groove, but he still had a solid game with 29 points, seven rebounds, and two assists in this one. After they were nearly unbeatable to begin the season, the Bucks have dropped yet another game when their Big 3 all play, and this was undoubtedly an ugly one to sit through.