Lackluster effort from ‘relaxed’ Bucks
Preseason games, by nature, don’t count. However, they do matter as they provide opportunities for teams to grow together and build good habits for the contests where the final result will be of the utmost importance.
The Milwaukee Bucks didn’t play like the game mattered on Wednesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. At least that was head coach Jason Kidd’s assessment following a lackadaisical 104-86 blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers.
“We were a little bit relaxed from my seat,” Kidd said. “The ball didn’t move; we were worried about I instead of team. Two games in it starts to get real and hopefully that will turn up guys’ intensity . ...
“We can’t just wait for 34, we can’t wait for Giannis (Antetokounmpo) to create the pace, to create everything. These guys have a job to do and they didn’t do their job tonight.
The Bucks, playing in their second tilt in three days, looked a step slow and out of sorts throughout the night in a game they never got a handle on.
Milwaukee’s offense never got into a flow, with forced passes, missed shots — the Bucks went just 9 of 43 on three-pointers (20.9%) — and a bevy of turnovers ruling the day. Those turnovers, of which there were ultimately 20 matching Monday’s loss in Dallas, included numerous lazy passes and giveaways in live-ball situations, with Indiana nabbing 14 steals.
“It puts our defense at a big disadvantage when we’re turning the ball over and they’re just running past our jog,” Kidd said. “As a group we have to look at the things we didn’t do well and the things we did do well — which will be real quick — and understand that the ball is important.”
The game got away from the Bucks in the third quarter, somewhat surprisingly on the watch of their starting unit — Malcolm Brogdon, Khris Middleton, Tony Snell, D.J. Wilson and John Henson — a lineup that included three starters from last season. Indiana opened the half on an 18-5 run and never looked back, taking advantage of double-digit turnovers from the Bucks in the third quarter alone to build a lead that nearly reached 30 points.
Milwaukee’s starting unit combined to go 12 of 35 from the floor (34.3%) and converted on just 2 of 15 three-pointers. They also accounted for 10 of the turnovers, with Middleton and Henson each giving the ball away four times.
“It was a terrible game by us,” Middleton said. “We’ve got to do a better job of get-
ting into our stuff, playing the right way and defending. … Tonight we were just trying to do it all by ourselves; we weren’t using each other, trusting each other.”
One bright spot for the Bucks was second-year guard Gary Payton II, who led the team in points, rebounds and assists with 15, 7 and 5, respectively. He made numerous strong drives to the rim for layups and late in the game even attempted to throw down a one-handed jam over Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis, though his attempt caught iron as Payton drew a foul. Rashad Vaughn contributed 14 points and Gerald Green added 12, with both doing the bulk of their damage in the fourth quarter when the outcome was decided.
First cut: After the game, Kidd mentioned that James Young, who missed Monday’s game with a concussion and didn’t take the court Wednesday night, would be released and will likely find his way to the G League at some point. Rookie Sterling Brown also sat Wednesday. Kidd said Brown didn’t do anything wrong; rather, the team is attempting to evaluate players for its final open roster spot.
Kidd expects to have the roster settled before the Bucks’ final preseason on Oct. 13.
‘Back in the house’: Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo participated in the team’s shootaround on Wednesday morning and put up shots in his normal pre-game on-court slot ahead of the game against the Pacers. Those sessions marked Antetkounmpo’s first times back with the team following the sudden death of his father, Charles, last Friday night.
However, Antetkounmpo was a healthy scratch from the game — along with Jason Terry and Matthew Dellavedova — though he did watch from the bench.
“It was great for him to be back in the house,” Kidd said. “Getting back to, you can’t say (the) norm because of what he’s gone through, but just giving him a time to not maybe think about what took place, to get out and play basketball, something he loves to do.”
Kidd noted that there will be a meeting with Antetokounmpo on Thursday to discuss the plan going forward regarding practices and whether or not the 22-year-old standout will join the Bucks for their preseason game Friday night in Chicago.
“He’s a special kid on and off the floor; routine is part of what makes him special,” Kidd said. “For him to get back in that routine of playing, being around his teammates — we’re all here to help, he doesn’t have to do it by himself. I think that would make it easier for him, but it’s never easy when you lose someone that’s special. He’s going to have his good days and bad days but we’re here to help and that’s all we can ask is for him to be here (for us) to help him.”