After playing each other three times within the first 13 games of the season and twice in the preseason, the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks squared off on Wednesday night for the first time in what feels like an eternity. The end of the game was much more exciting than it needed to be after Atlanta mounted yet another big comeback against the Bucks. Here are the three most important takeaways from Milwaukee’s win.
The Milwaukee Bucks continue to let big leads slip
Hitting on Atlanta’s comeback right away, the Bucks can’t seem to close out games when they’re given easy chances to do so. It’s one thing to let up a big lead every once in a while because it’s bound to happen at some point, but Milwaukee has now made it a habit not to put teams away and let them back in the game.
Against Atlanta, Milwaukee led by as many as 24, including a 21-point lead heading into halftime. The Bucks then proceeded to get outscored 36-22 in the third quarter, and that lead was down to seven going into the fourth.
The Hawks took their first lead with over three minutes left, grabbing a 103-101 lead. The Bucks would go on a 13-2 run to end the game and ultimately finish victorious, but Milwaukee’s inability to preserve a lead is now officially a concern.
After the first time against Chicago, it felt like an anomaly. Then, they did it again a week later against Toronto, and it felt like it might be a slight concern. Another week later, Milwaukee blew a big second-half lead again, and it feels like it’s time to call it as it is a real concern.
Oddly enough, all three games were played on three consecutive Wednesdays on the road. Perhaps the Bucks need to avoid playing road games on Wednesdays. Whatever the cause, the Bucks need to break their habit of taking their foot off of the gas if they want to return to the pinnacle of the NBA world this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finds a new way to be productive for the Milwaukee Bucks
Everybody knows Giannis Antetokounmpo can take over the game with his scoring ability. Wednesday night’s game was not that time, however. Instead, we saw a different way that Antetokounmpo could produce for the Bucks.
Antetokounmpo has had moments throughout his career where he’s made his off nights worse by trying to do too much. Against Atlanta, he showed us why his teammates and coaches speak so highly of his feel for the game. Antetokounmpo finished the game with only seven points. Usually, that sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it was okay for the Bucks.
Instead of trying to rack up many points, Antetokounmpo made the right plays, finishing the game with 18 rebounds and ten assists. Antetokounmpo, who has recently piled up a ton of turnovers, finished the game with only one turnover.
It’s impressive to see a player of Antetokounmpo’s stature accept that it’s simply not his night offensively and defer to his teammates. Those teammates stepped up, with Antetokounmpo compiling five rebounds and four assists in the fourth quarter alone.
While Antetokounmpo’s scoring will certainly be needed on most occasions for the Bucks, a game like Wednesday is still encouraging. It showed that Antetokounmpo will not always force shots when he’s not having a big scoring night unless it is the right play to help the team win.
Joe Ingles is finding his role with the Milwaukee Bucks
After struggling in his first few games with the Milwaukee Bucks, the patience is starting to pay off for Joe Ingles. Ingles’ stat line from Wednesday night doesn’t jump out at you, but it’s starting to be seen what kind of a role he will have for the Bucks.
Ingles has surprised some with his playmaking ability over the last few games. A career 40 percent 3-point shooter is what many Bucks fans expected out of Ingles. Milwaukee has approached using Ingles as a secondary playmaker that can create a shot for himself or set up his teammates.
As a facilitator, Ingles has been excellent in January off the Bucks bench, averaging 7.2 points and 4.6 assists per game, per NBA.com/stats. Ingles will likely never produce jaw-dropping numbers in either the scoring or assist departments, but his production is great for a player who isn’t a point guard by trade with the way Milwaukee is using him.
Consistent shooting will come out of Ingles, but his ability to be trusted as a primary ball-handler will be huge for the Bucks. He allows Jrue Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo to play more freely and not have the ball in their hands so often.
While a stat line of seven points and five assists on 3-for-8 shooting won’t look impressive to a box score watcher, it has been encouraging to see Ingles look better on the court lately as a playmaker for the Bucks.
Stay tuned for more Bucks updates, with the season now halfway complete.