After a slight skid, the Milwaukee Bucks bounced back with a resounding 118-89 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
It has not been an easy run of late for the Bucks, with them struggling to put together consistent performances in a tough string of games. Milwaukee was without Damian Lillard, while the Lakers were without both LeBron James and Luka Doncic, so the star power was down slightly. That allowed Giannis Antetokounmpo to show his greatness with a game-high 28 points on 9-for-15 (60 percent) field goal shooting and 10-of-12 (83.3 percent) from the free throw line.
Gary Trent Jr. added 23, while Kyle Kuzma had 20 points against his former team. These are the games the Milwaukee Bucks need to be winning during this West Coast stretch. Dropping a game to the Golden State Warriors without Stephen Curry was disappointing, but this victory at least gives the team confidence for the rest of the trip.
One noticeable thing from Thursday's game was Trent and Kevin Porter Jr. being the first players off the bench, as they had an instant impact.
Trent and Porter should continue to be the first two off the bench
Offensively, the Bucks have had serious spells of lacking creativity and being incredibly slow getting into their play-action. Trent and Porter give you an offensive punch, with both having the ability to score at all three levels and be effective with and without the ball. Porter has been a great addition since the trade deadline and has aided with crashing the glass, averaging 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists on top of it.
Early on in the season, Trent was in the starting lineup but lost his spot to Andre Jackson Jr. Since going to the bench, we have seen the best of him, which has allowed him to focus more on offense than defense. On the season, he is averaging 10.8 points on good shooting splits of .438/.421/.851.
These two being first off the bench is easier to say at the moment with the Bucks being without Jericho Sims and Bobby Portis. With the frontcourt depth limited, Giannis has been playing a lot more time at center, with Milwaukee going smaller, allowing both Porter and Trent to play together.
Following the defeat to the Warriors, reports came out saying that Doc Rivers held a meeting with Giannis and Lillard as the team tries to figure things out. It was reportedly a "constructive" meeting, and the hope is they can get back to the same sort of basketball we saw out of the All-Star weekend. They have stumbled against the better teams in this run and have made it hard work for themselves.
With the Milwaukee Bucks having the top-scoring duo in the NBA but not backing it up with results, Trent and Porter are certainly needed down the stretch and into the postseason to give the Bucks a chance at a deep run. Other role players are becoming stagnant, and the scoring punch the two provide is vital to any of the team's success.
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