3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ thrilling OT win versus Brooklyn Nets
By Dalton Sell
After a massive win against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks stayed in the Eastern Conference for a clash with the Brooklyn Nets last night. Given the standings before last night’s matchup, which included Milwaukee occupying the second seed and Brooklyn in the seventh, this could be a potential first round preview, which made things even more interesting.
With 13 lead changes and seven ties, the only way to describe this game would be to say that it was a roller coaster ride from start to finish. Though the Bucks trailed for most of the night, they never gave in and eventually battled their way back into the game, eventually earning one of the team’s best victories of the season in a rare overtime matchup. With all of that being said, let us take a closer look at three takeaways from Milwaukee’s 120-119 victory over Brooklyn.
The Milwaukee Bucks survived despite yet another hectic turnover frenzy versus the Brooklyn Nets, though it nearly doomed them
Turning the ball over has been a significant problem for the Bucks this season, and it was nearly their undoing last night. The defending champs tallied a brutal 23 turnovers for the game, which marked a new season-high, according to NBA.com/stats.
A sizeable portion of the turnovers came from Milwaukee’s leading trio, as the Big 3 tallied 18 of the 23 giveaways. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with eight turnovers, his second-most in any matchup this season. Whether it was due to a handful of sloppy passes or just not being able to handle the basketball on a few possessions, the Greek Freak had some struggles getting a grip on his ball-handling. However, he undoubtedly made up for it with everything else he contributed, which will be discussed in just a moment. Jrue Holiday followed Antetokounmpo with six turnovers of his own, with practically every one of them coming via a head-scratching pass. Khris Middleton totaled four turnovers before he was ultimately ejected late in the game for a Flagrant two foul.
The Nets feasted on the Bucks’ turnovers, having scored 22 points off of them in the matchup, per NBA.com/stats. Seth Curry and Kyrie Irving combined to score 16 of those points, with these two constantly having capitalized on the opportunity. Kevin Durant, Bruce Brown, and Nic Claxton all added two apiece as these 22 points nearly came back to bite the Bucks in a one-point victory.
While the Milwaukee Bucks managed to secure the nail-biting victory, it was evidently clear that their ball-handling needs work after last night’s season-high in turnovers. This is an area that the Bucks must emphasize working on down the stretch, as evidenced throughout last night’s game.