It was one of the first possessions of the game for the Blazers. Damian Lillard found himself having to defend on Jerami Grant in the post. Brook Lopez instantly came to help, but the Bucks leader and Giannis Antetokounmpo were unable to ensure the rotation quickly enough.
Result: the Greek, late, came to help in the racket by abandoning his opposite and despite a hand gesture from Damian Lillard (indicating that he was taking Brook Lopez's player), Jabari Walker inherited a wide open shot in the corner. This action clearly illustrates the defensive concerns of the Bucks, recurring since the start of the season, particularly in terms of communication. Beaten in Portland last night, they conceded 37 points in the first quarter.
So much so that Doc Rivers has a word to describe the start of his troop's defensive encounter: “ Terrible. » « They beat us on the dribble and I think we had poor communication. Three or four times on the screens, we didn't 'switch' when we were supposed to. We must be a team that speaks better, for sure, a team that helps better », Demands the Bucks coach, more convinced by the second half of his team in this register.
His team limited Portland to 52 points scored after the break, and 119 points in total. Which is a lot for the second weakest attack in the league (109 points on 100 possessions).
Giannis wants to lead by example
The new arrival thus speaks of a defense “ sporadic: We haven't yet been consistent defensively. This is going to take a little time. I saw us with the ability to make 'stops' when we needed to, which is what we did tonight. This is a great sign for the future of the team. »
He is referring here to the big battle fought by his players to come back in the last moments, like the double intervention of Giannis Antetokounmpo under the circle in front of Deandre Ayton. Or Malik Beasley's dive to recover a ball at the expense of Anfernee Simons in the last minute. So many efforts that could have been rewarded if the Blazers fullback had not scored this final “floater”.
For his part, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who makes the same observations as his coach, simply asks that the Bucks play harder after having undoubtedly displayed better intentions on the Nuggets floor two days earlier. “ I try to be as vocal as possible, talk to my teammates, listen to my teammates, the new staff because the rules are new, with a new game plan. So I try to keep my eyes and ears as much as possible open », displays the team leader.
Remember that Milwaukee only has the 19th best defense in the league with 116 points conceded on average over 100 possessions.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 45 | 35.1 | 60.7 | 26.0 | 66.1 | 2.6 | 9.0 | 11.7 | 6.2 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 31.0 |
| Damian Lillard | 44 | 35.2 | 42.2 | 34.7 | 92.4 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 6.8 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 25.1 |
| Khris Middleton | 40 | 26.2 | 48.5 | 37.2 | 83.5 | 0.6 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 14.9 |
| Brook Lopez | 47 | 31.8 | 49.1 | 34.6 | 82.6 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 13.1 |
| Bobby Portis | 47 | 23.3 | 49.7 | 37.7 | 77.5 | 1.5 | 5.3 | 6.8 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 12.3 |
| Malik Beasley | 45 | 29.4 | 47.7 | 45.5 | 72.2 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 2.1 | 11.2 |
| Jae Crowder | 16 | 22.9 | 45.8 | 43.3 | 57.1 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 6.9 |
| Cameron Payne | 43 | 15.1 | 47.1 | 41.0 | 87.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 6.4 |
| Pat Connaughton | 41 | 20.9 | 44.9 | 38.3 | 78.3 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 5.5 |
| Marjon Beauchamp | 35 | 15.4 | 48.6 | 40.3 | 60.0 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 4.9 |
| Aj Green | 28 | 7.5 | 42.5 | 41.3 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 3.3 |
| Andre Jackson, Jr. | 39 | 11.5 | 55.1 | 38.9 | 88.9 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 2.8 |
| Lindell Wigginton | 3 | 2.5 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.0 |
| Tyty Washington, Jr. | 2 | 2.8 | 33.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 |
| Chris Livingston | 13 | 4.6 | 53.8 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 |
| Robin Lopez | 13 | 2.9 | 37.5 | 33.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| Thanasis Antetokounmpo | 19 | 4.1 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Bolden Brands | 2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
