Last night, the Milwaukee Bucks took on the Indiana Pacers in the East Semifinal of the In-Season Tournament and fell to a 128-119 defeat in Las Vegas. A fourth quarter collapse was the reason for the Bucks' defeat, as they stagnated offensively in the final few minutes whilst defensively allowing the Pacers to take control.
With just two and a half minutes left to play, the Bucks were down 113-112 following a couple of Damian Lillard free throws. The late collapse meant the Pacers won the quarter 37-25, and ultimately, it is them who move on to the first In-Season Tournament final that will take place this weekend.
Guard Tyrese Haliburton finished with 27 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds without registering a turnover. Myler Turner finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, along with three other Pacers players ending the game with double-digit points.
Credit goes to the Pacers, but from the Bucks' point of view, they caused their own issues on both ends of the court, and it is back to the drawing board for Adrian Griffin and the team before they take on the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
With the round-up out of the way, let's take a look at three studs and three duds from the Bucks' late collapse to the Indiana Pacers.
Stud - Giannis Antetokounmpo
Giannis did all he could on both ends of the floor to power the Bucks back in the game and at least give them the chance to extend their time in Vegas for a few more days. He finished the game with 37 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Even from the free throw line, he had a good game, hitting 11 of his 13 attempts from the line.
One of the highlights of the game was Giannis driving from the top of the key past Turner to throw down the hammer over him. Turner is no defensive scrub either, but Giannis was being a bully in the paint and really dragged Milwaukee back into the game when others were struggling.
One of the big issues with the Bucks down the stretch was Giannis and Lillard combining for just three shots in the final five minutes. Both players have shown their clutch ability throughout their NBA careers, and Lillard was traded to help in those late-game situations. It feels like with the game on the line, Milwaukee needs to use those two more and make defenses commit to attempting to stop the duo.
On the season, he is averaging 30.5 points and currently hitting a career-high 61.4 field goal percentage. Like most games, he is doing what he does on both ends of the floor, it is elsewhere the team is struggling, and it is perhaps slightly hampering the overall view on Giannis as the wins are expected. A lot of the losses this season have come down to self-infliction.
Dud - Bobby Portis
Bobby Portis has come under a lot of criticism recently with some of his performances not being to the standard of what is expected of him during his time in Milwaukee. Having been a serious Sixth Man of the Year candidate in the past three seasons, they need him to find his flow again and lead the bench unit again.
In almost 18 minutes11-point, he only scored four points and six rebounds, well under his 11 point average for this season and way down from his 14.1 average last season. The first half saw him, Lillard and Malik Beasley combined to hit just four of their 17 shots, three of the more reliable players, leaving the Bucks down big at the half and having to fight back in the third.
Portis had a nine-game run of hitting double-digit points, and it looked like he was back in his stride. In the previous eight games, he has only scored double digits in three of those games, and with the other bench players struggling to put the ball in the basket, this has hurt.
Portis needs to step it up to help the Bucks. His energy and tenacity on both ends of the floor have been integral to the team's success, and without that, it is leaving the starters to try and drag the team through games. I am confident he will find his groove, but I know a lot of Bucks fans are entertaining the idea of him being moved on to freshen up the roster.
Stud - Khris Middleton
Khris Middleton had a quietly solid game and nothing more than that. Some late-game decisions, whether down to him or coaching, make this a very light 'stud' decision, but overall, his performance was good.
In 30 minutes he finished with 20 points on 54 percent shooting, hitting four of his five attempts from deep. Seven rebounds and four assists with two steals also cements his performance. Now for the slight tarnishing of his performance. Late on it seemed that the Bucks were leaning on Middleton over Lillard and Giannis.
Again, not sure if this is down to him making that decision when bringing the ball up the court or coaching, but we know he can do it. Lillard is one of the most clutch players in the league, and to basically ignore him completely is weird. It was strange to see as the Bucks have been one of the best fourth-quarter teams this season, and Lillard has been key to that success.
Four turnovers, including a late one with the Bucks down three, weren't great, but overall, it was one of his better performances of the season. Those 20 points were a season-high for him, and he is averaging just 12.4 points on the season, so overall, I think Middleton was a stud last night, just with a couple of blemishes on his performance.
Dud - MarJon Beauchamp
Along with Portis, MarJon Beauchamp really struggled to make any sort of impact off the bench last night. The bench unit as a whole managed to score just 13 points on 18 shots which is frankly going to give the team a mountain to climb.
Beauchamp finished with five points, hitting two of three shots but really struggling from the free throw line, making one of his four attempts. Six rebounds and a steal are commendable. As you know, he will bring something defensively, but offensively is where he needs to provide more in order to continue being a big feature from the bench.
In his time on the court, Beauchamp's +/- was -17. In 15 minutes, that is quite staggering, and that is not just down to him, but one player finished with a worse +/-, along with the third worst on the Bucks being -6. Beauchamp still has a bright future, but he needs to be adding more offensively to continue growing. The Bucks can't keep finding themselves in situations where the starters have to keep dragging them out of a hole to be in with a chance of winning games.
Stud - Brook Lopez
Brook Lopez had a solid game at the center position, and there wasn't much to complain about from his performance. Offensively, he has been quietly going about his business, and defensively, he has played well despite the seeming disorganization the Bucks have shown as a whole on that end of the floor.
Last night, he ended with 18 points on 41 percent shooting and hitting three of his 10 attempts from deep. His six rebounds and game-leading four blocks aided the Bucks' defensive play but were not enough to prevent the fourth quarter collapse.
On the season, his scoring has dropped slightly to an average of 13.5 points, and this performance was his fourth highest scoring game of the season. It is hard to tell with Lopez at the minute as his performances are still strong. The Bucks' defensive issues have been well documented, and we know Lopez's strength is on drop coverage.
There is still a long way to go in this NBA season and hopefully they can figure it out defensively. They have the third best offensive rating in the league, but are 22nd in defensive rating and that has to improve if they are to fulfill aspirations of winning another NBA title.
Dud - Cam Payne
Don't want to continue to dwell on the bench unit, but Cam Payne was another that struggled to get anything going last night. Of course, he is entering the game in place of Lillard, so no one is expecting him to perform to that level, but just to help steady the ship somewhat, and he struggled to do so against the Pacers.
Payne finished the game with four points but took nine shots in his 16 minutes on the court, including missing all three of his attempts from beyond the arc. Just one of those falling could have helped turn the tables or momentum of the game. His -18 +/- doesn't help his case at all from last night and really goes to show how the bench couldn't assert themselves in the game.
Over the season he has been a solid addition to the team in bringing some control off the bench. He is close to hitting 50 percent of his shots and is averaging 43 percent from deep. Just a shame he couldn't follow his averages in last night's defeat.
It was a tough one for the Bucks, with both positives and negatives coming out of the game. They showed great resilience to come from a big deficit at the half and showed real fight to get themselves back in with a Pacers team that is young and full of energy. That youthful energy showed late on, and the Bucks' transition defense really dropped off. The late collapse is something to be concerned about, but their fourth-quarter play has been one of their strengths so far this season. Defensively, there are still problems and hopefully Griffin and his staff can iron those issues out sooner rather than later.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis and reactions as we delve further into the NBA season.