Late chances slip away
Execution falls apart in closing seconds
The closing 7.7 seconds in Tuesday night's game against Golden State did not go as planned for the Milwaukee Bucks, a frenetic span lengthened when Khris Middleton's inbound pass missed Jrue Holiday and skittered across the court. The clock began when Donte DiVincenzo scooped it up, the beats per minute skyrocketed when he pitched it to Holiday, who swung it back to DiVincenzo. He tossed it back to Middleton, whose 26-foot three-point attempt was partially blocked by the Warriors' Andrew Wiggins.
With no timeouts let, Pat Connaughton picked it out of the air and lifted a
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AM-620 seven-footer that hit the front of the rim.
Time expired before the Bucks could get a third opportunity off and they lost 122-121 to the Warriors.
“I just gave Jrue a bad pass and from there it's a little bit of a broken play,” Middleton said after the game. “We still end up running a little bit of it. It was just bad execution that started with a bad pass by myself.”
It was their second straight game without Giannis Antetokounmpo, who after participating in a portion of practice on Monday was probable to play
against the Warriors. But after going through warmups it was determined he should miss his second straight game with left knee soreness.
“He was warming up tonight and just felt it a little bit,” Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game. “And just made the decision that tonight was not a good night, was a night that he should be out.”
It is the fourth game Antetokounmpo has missed with the knee sprain and he missed one game early in the season with a back injury. The Bucks are now 3-2 without him and 32-18 on the season.
Without Antetokounmpo, Holiday, Lopez and DiVincenzo have played more minutes than their season average. Off the bench, Portis, Connaughton and Thanasis Antetokounmpo also saw more time.
That held true again against Golden State, as Middleton played 37 minutes, Holiday 34, Brook Lopez 33 and Bobby Portis 28.
“I think we are conscientious of the load that other guys are playing and the literal minutes and then also just how much they maybe have to do a little bit more because different people may or may not be playing and things like that,” Budenholzer said before the game. “So, yeah, you want to keep the whole picture in mind from top to bottom of the roster, every way, shape and form. Hopefully we do that. I think we have a history of that and we can’t lose sight of that short-term for any reason.”
In the one-point win over Sacramento on Saturday, Budenholzer went five deep on his bench and started Connaughton. He changed that up a bit against the Warriors as Portis started and six others saw some action.
Even though there was a decision to play the starters more minutes this season, the bench has been a big part of the team success. Often, if that group doesn’t play well the team does not either.
But the second unit has been in a state of flux, really, since the Bucks fielded nine players in Philadelphia on March 17 when three players were pulled off the court due to the trade that eventually brought in P.J. Tucker from Houston. Whether it be through injuries to starters, roster moves or Portis’ stint in the health and safety protocol, the group had played through disruption regarding combinations and minutes it had finally settled into.
But, Portis felt the additions of veterans like Teague (12 year) and Tucker (10) will help the retooled evolve more quickly. Teague scored 15 points in 15 minutes against the Warriors and Tucker appears to be closer to making his return to the court after suffering a calf strain on March 24.
“With this group that’s so unselfish and everybody plays well together, it’s a lot more easier, it’s a lot (more) comfortable to be on the floor with them,” Teague said. “You know you’re going to get opportunities and guys don’t; they just want everybody to be successful. If you’re open you get the ball. And vice versa, if I see somebody open I’m going to try to get them ball. So it makes my transition here really easy.”
On Tuesday the retooled bench contributed 36 points for the Bucks, with Thanasis Antetokounmpo scoring 10 points and bringing in five rebounds in 20 minutes while Bryn Forbes added eight points in 14 minutes. Connaughton had a rough night, going 1 for 6 from the field, including 0 for 4 from behind the three-point line.
Milwaukee watched a 86-73 third quarter lead slowly fall away thanks to the play of Golden State’s (24-27) Steph Curry, who scored 19 points in that period to make it 88-83 Bucks heading into the fourth.
The Bucks managed to keep the Warriors at arm’s length for much of the fourth quarter and Holiday hit back-to-back threes to give the Bucks a 116-106 lead with four minutes left. But the Warriors went on a 14-1 run from that point to take a 120117 lead on a deep Curry jumper with 1:06 left.
Budenholzer and Holiday said they’ll have to review the game film to see what broke down for the Bucks in that period, as they went the final four minutes of the game with just one field goal.
“I think there was a couple good looks that we didn’t make and credit to their defense,” Budenholzer said. “They were good.”
Trailing 120-119 with 36 seconds left, Holiday collected an offensive rebound to put the Bucks up to set up the final seven seconds of play.
Kelly Oubre Jr. returned the favor thereafter, pulling in an offensive rebound that drew a foul. He hit the eventual game-winning free throws with 7.7 seconds left.
The Warriors finished with 12 offensive rebounds and 17 second chance points. Budenholzer and Holiday were unhappy with the defensive rebound effort on the night for the Bucks.
“It’s something that I feel like we can control,” Holiday said. “Sometimes you kind of think it’s effort and being able to outwork them, which that is a part of it, but some of it is technique, too. Just boxing out your man and sometimes when you box ‘em out it might be a faceguard and let somebody else come through and get the rebound. I mean tonight, how we played Steph was supposed to be; I tried my best to get in there and help rebound but I know off those rebound Steph is really looking for those second shots, those second chance threes. I think I was hugged up to him a little too much tonight.” Curry led all scorers with 41 points. He made five of his 10 three-pointers and 14 of 21 shots. James Wiseman scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds while Kent Bazemore had 18 off the bench. Oubre Jr. added 19.