The Milwaukee Bucks returned to action on Monday night against the Denver Nuggets after two days off and posted their best win in the two weeks since Doc Rivers took the bench, beating the defending champions 112-95.
Milwaukee led by 28 points after the third quarter, at which point Denver coach Michael Malone twice sat down on top player Nikola Jokic.
The Bucks (35-19) had another strong defensive effort after allowing Charlotte to lead a season-low 84 points on Friday, marking the first time they've won back-to-back games since. Winning three times in a row from January 20 to 24 Under former coach Adrian Griffin and interim coach Joe Prunty.
Square score:Pax 112, Jazz 95
The Nuggets (36-18) lost their second win in a row.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 36 points on an impressive 73.6% shooting (14-for-19). This was the ninth time this season he shot 70%. He also pulled down 18 rebounds and provided five assists.
Damian Lillard overcame early trouble to score 18 points, including 14 in the decisive third quarter, which saw the Bucks lead 60-44 at halftime to 91-63. Bobby Portis added 13 points off the bench.
Jokic led the Nuggets with 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Aaron Gordon (14) and Michael Porter Jr. (11) also reached double figures for Denver.
The Bucks are once again putting pressure on Nikola Jokic
On Jan. 29, the Milwaukee Bucks relied on the phrase “what's old is new again” when Rivers dusted off Mike Budenholzer's game plan against two-time reigning MVP Jokic. Center Brook Lopez started off playing Jokić one-on-one — then Antetokounmpo followed — but the wings flashed strategic double teams at various points to add a half-pace from a stop to Jokić's offensive tackle.
So, while Jokic hit one of his 15 triples with 25 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists in the Nuggets' win in late January, the Bucks were happy with the efforts to impact his shooting. Jokic was just 10-for-25 (including 1-of-6 from behind the three-point line) — his sixth-worst shooting night of the season and his poorest since Dec. 25.
Jokic's individual offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) was just 105.8, one of his least effective outputs this season. For reference, he entered Monday's game with an individual offensive rating of 122.5
The only thing Rivers said the Bucks couldn't accomplish in the game plan was to go small with Antetokounmpo at No. 5 and force Jokic to run with the Bucks' MVP candidate, largely because of Antetokounmpo's foul play.
Unfortunately for the Bucks, that issue reared its head again on Monday, as Antetokounmpo picked up two fouls in the opening minutes of the game. But the team stuck to a similar game plan with Lopez tracking the big man inside the 3-point line and using quick double teams and recoveries.
This also requires Lopez to play the entire first quarter, matching Jokic's minutes. It was the first time this season that Lopez played a full quarter.
Jokic scored 14 of the Nuggets' 23 points in the quarter, but was 6 for 12. The rest of his team combined for 13 shots, and Jamal Murray was held scoreless on two attempts.
Then in the second quarter, Antetokounmpo started to handle Jokic for a while, but the overall defensive intensity remained the same for the Nuggets' big man. He finished the final seven minutes of the first half scoring nine points and going 4-for-6 from the floor, but it continued to be just a one-man effort as the rest of the Nuggets scored just 21 points. He also had three turnovers to his four assists.
The effort helped the Bucks lead by as many as 22 points in the first half before taking a 60-44 lead at the beak.
Did you notice?
In the first quarter, 6-foot-2-inch Damian Lillard stepped up to stop a 6-11 Jokic drive at the free throw line — which stymied the big man's drive. He then twisted awkwardly to launch the ball behind him to a teammate, but it sailed too high and was picked off by Bucks' Jae Crowder to start a break that ended with a basket from Antetokounmpo.
It was just a small example of how the Bucks use team effort to frustrate the two-time league MVP and force him into situations he doesn't quite like.
Jamal Murray slowed against the Bucks, stopping due to inflammation
Murray, the Nuggets' dynamic point guard, scored 35 points on 13-for-22 shooting when the Nuggets beat the Bucks on Jan. 29, but he didn't get a chance to get going Monday night. His first field goal didn't come until a minute into the first half, and he was just 1-for-5 in the first 18 minutes of play.
Murray's night ended at the break due to a leg injury.
Milwaukee struggled against opposing guards all season, allowing 30 or more points to one on 25 occasions.
4 numbers
2 After weeks of Doc Rivers taking over the bench, the Bucks went 3-5.Pat Connaughton: “For us, it's all about getting better every day, so if it's been a couple of weeks, it's not something I think the guys have really thought about. It's not something the guys have realized. We've been very focused on trying to get better, trying for everyone to get on the same page. “A great job of putting the structure in place, putting in place and simplifying some of the things we already do, some of the things we already do well as well as adding some things that I think will help us in the long run.”
5:19 Time Denver went without a field goal from the end of the first quarter until the start of the second half. This allowed the Bucks to turn a 23-21 deficit into a 38-24 lead. The Bucks never trailed again.
8-3 The Bucks have scored in the games Khris Middleton has missed this season.
10-5 Denver scored against Milwaukee when both Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo played. The Nuggets are 0-2 when Jokic sits vs. the Bucks, and the Bucks are 0-1 vs. the Nuggets when Antetokounmpo sits.
When will Kris Middleton return?
Middleton sprained his left ankle after landing on Kevin Durant's foot on Feb. 6 in Phoenix, and was out of position in a walking boot that night. Although he no longer needed support on his ankle when the team returned to Milwaukee on February 8 versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, Rivers called it a “bad” ankle sprain.
With the All-Star break looming from February 16-22, Middleton likely won't return to action until after the team returns, at the earliest.
“He's not going to recover quickly — maybe at 21,” Rivers said at practice Sunday with a chuckle. “With Chris, maybe all of our guys but more of the veteran guys, listen, I want to win every game now but I really want to be great at the end of the year. And the bottom line for me is, we have to get healthy. That's basically, sitting down with our medical staff, It was one of the first things I said. I'm not the coach who gets the players to play. I'm the coach, at the moment, who's going to sit down and practice and prepare because no matter what happens, if we win them all and we're not ready – or we lose them all and we're ready – I'll accept that. I have to. “That's our mentality. We want to win every game. I'm competitive as hell. I don't like losing games. But we want to be ready.”
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