3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ tough loss to the Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies dominated the battle of the second units as the Milwaukee Bucks failed to get much production from their bench

While the Grizzlies boast one of the best scoring benches in the association, the Bucks are on the opposite end of the spectrum with one of the least productive second units. That difference would be a significant factor in this matchup, particularly as Milwaukee’s bench would be shorthanded as George Hill started in place of Jrue Holiday and Serge Ibaka was a late scratch with an illness. With ease, the Grizzlies won the second unit minutes as their bench outscored the Bucks’ unit 55-34.

The Grizzlies were led by De’Anthony Melton, who continued a recent hot streak last night as he tallied 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the perimeter. Melton alone hit one less 3-pointer than the entire Milwaukee roster combined as the champs had no answer to his onslaught offensively. Kyle Anderson and Xavier Tillman provided some assistance as they tallied nine and eight points of their own, while Ziaire Williams chipped in seven, in addition to some points scored in mop-up duty by a few others. Even without their best player in Ja Morant, who has missed the past few games, the Grizzlies remain one of the best teams in the league due to their well-rounded roster and this strong bench unit.

Meanwhile, it was another struggle-filled outing for Milwaukee’s bench. Bobby Portis had himself an incredibly rough night as he scored seven points on an abysmal 2-of-13 field goal shooting. He simply could not find a groove whatsoever in what was an all-around frustrating night for the big man. Elsewhere, Connaughton cooled down as he added nine points but missed all four of his tries from the perimeter, doing all of his damage from inside the arc. Wesley Matthews also had himself a quiet night as he went scoreless after missing both of his triple tries. The lone saving grace in the loss was the strong play from Jevon Carter, who scored nine points on an efficient 4-of-5 shooting off the bench against his former team. Carter has proven to be a bright spot for the Bucks lately, a trend that certainly continued last night.

The Bucks will have to put this loss in the rearview as they have a tough road ahead to close the regular season, starting with a must-see battle of Eastern Conference contenders this Tuesday.

The Milwaukee Bucks will be back in action this Tuesday in a heavyweight matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers and be sure to catch the action at 6:00 p.m. CST on Bally Sports WI.