3 takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks’ galling loss to Cleveland Cavaliers

Brook Lopez had a rough night from start to finish in the Milwaukee Bucks’ loss to Cleveland

In this clash between the Bucks and Cavaliers, it was a long night for Brook Lopez, to say the least.

Offensively, the center could not buy a bucket for most of the night. He shot just 5-of-14 from the floor, which included missing all six of his 3-point attempts. A lot of Lopez’s struggles could be due to the shot attempts he took, as he took a handful of ill-advised pull-ups threes and missed some bunnies inside. It was just a strange showing for Lopez, who finished with 10 points.

Even with his struggles on offense, Lopez may have had even more trouble on the defensive end. He spent most of the night matched up against second-year man Evan Mobley, who got the best of him from start to finish. Per NBA.com/stats, Lopez matched up against Mobley for five minutes and 22 seconds, and the latter feasted by scoring 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Lopez and the Bucks had no answer at all for Mobley, who scored a career-high 38 points without hitting a three.

In what has been a tremendous season for Lopez to this point, a performance like this one is rare. There were bound to be a few bumps in the road, and this was certainly one of them. In fact, this may have been a massive pothole. All Lopez can do is not dwell on this game. Perhaps he will use it as fuel in what has otherwise been an All-Star-caliber season for the veteran center.