3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ win over Houston Rockets

Brook Lopez is back to being himself for the Milwaukee Bucks

It was no secret that the Milwaukee Bucks missed Brook Lopez last season. The team’s defense wasn’t the same without him. Even when he returned last season, Lopez never got his legs fully back under him to show his true impact on the team.

It was obvious on Saturday night the effect a healthy Lopez can have on the Bucks. Lopez had five blocks and two steals on the defensive end. In the team’s first two games, Lopez’s defense and its impact on how the rest of the team performs on the defensive end have been impressive.

In the team’s season-opening win over the 76ers, Lopez was one of the keys to victory for the Bucks. Lopez was matched up with Joel Embiid for over 10 minutes in the game. In that time, Lopez held Embiid to 5-16 from the field (31.3 percent) and 0-2 from three, per NBA.com/stats.

Lopez has played great defense on more than only Embiid over the team’s first two games. Lopez has held his matchups to 19-47 from the field (40.4 percent) and 4-11 from beyond the arc (36.4 percent).

While it may be just a two-game sample size, it’s much more. Lopez has been an excellent defender the whole time he has been in Milwaukee, and he appears to be back to the All-Defense form he was in before his back injury last season.