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The Milwaukee Bucks put their disappointing loss to the Toronto Raptors in the rear-view mirror last night, taking down the Miami Heat 128-117. The Bucks’ defense shut the door on Miami, holding them to six points in the final six minutes of regulation. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast, Bucks In Six Minutes, below.
Player Grades
Ryan Rollins
37 minutes, 21 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 9/16 FG, +4
Rollins got going early on, and it was a sign of things to come. He and KPJ combined for 14 of the final 16 points for Milwaukee.
Grade: B+
Kevin Porter Jr.
37 minutes, 32 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 11/20 FG, 8/8 FT, +10
What a fourth quarter it was for KPJ. He just went into total takeover mode. Also, having seven assists to just one turnover is the next step in his evolution.
Grade: A
AJ Green
28 minutes, 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 fouls, 2/6 3P, 2/2 FT, +12
It took Green until the second half to put in his first points, but he found other ways to contribute with five rebounds and four assists. You want more scoring and shooting from him, but efforts like last night are good enough.
Grade: C+
Kyle Kuzma
25 minutes, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 7/16 FG, 3/7 3P, 2/4 FT, -6
If Kuzma didn’t tail off in the second half, he might have gotten highest grade on the team. Kuz got a little three-point happy throughout the game, but starting the game with nine of the Bucks’ first 11 points made up for a lot of that.
Grade: B-
Myles Turner
19 minutes, 2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1/5 FG, 0/3 3P, -4
It wasn’t a great night for Turner. Bam Adebayo got the better of him on most occasions, and he couldn’t get a rhythm offensively.
Grade: D+
Bobby Portis
24 minutes, 21 points, 2 rebounds, 3 fouls, 8/14 FG, 5/10 3P, +18
One of several Bucks who had a bounce-back night offensively, Portis tied a season-high in three-point makes (and many came in timely situations).
Grade: B
Cam Thomas
20 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2/10 FG, 0/4 3P, 2/3 FT, +1
Thomas was due for a stinker. He did have a nice stretch to end the first half, converting a crazy and-one layup and drilling a step-back midrange jumper over Tyler Herro. Outside of that, though, it was a quiet night for Cam.
Grade: C-
Jericho Sims
29 minutes, 8 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4/4 FG, +15
Big shoutout to the load Sims carried. He played the final 17:22 of the game and looked great (particularly in the fourth, helping to limit Bam to just two points and one rebound).
Grade: A-
Ousmane Dieng
22 minutes, 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 4/6 FG, 3/3 3P, +5
The Ous finally got loose in Milwaukee. After going scoreless in his home debut against Toronto, Dieng had himself a solid day against Miami; he was much more assertive and aggressive.
Grade: B
Doc Rivers
Doc nearly cost the team the game again in the fourth quarter. For some reason, he left in a lineup of Rollins, Thomas, Dieng, Sims, and Portis that was getting shredded by the Heat. He stuck with that lineup for too long in the fourth quarter, getting down by nine at one point. Rivers saved himself by subbing in Green, and the Bucks immediately went on a 9-0 run.
Grade: C+
DNP-CD: Gary Trent Jr., Gary Harris, Andre Jackson Jr., Pete Nance, Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Inactive: Alex Antetokounmpo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Taurean Prince
Bonus Bucks Bits
- Doc used the term “manhandled” when describing their performance against the Raptors on Sunday. He was asked about how his team responded last night:
“This was a big response for us. This is what we haven’t done this year. We’ll get a nice stretch of games going, then we’ll lose, and then, in the next game, we’ll give in again. There were stretches where we could’ve given in, and we didn’t. I told them after the game, ‘that’s a gut kind of win for us.’”
- Ousmane Dieng finally got on the scoreboard at Fiserv. I asked Doc about what he thought of the young wing’s performance.
“He was terrific, more in the second half. I thought in the first half he got beat a couple of times off the dribble, some of the fouls. In the second half, I just thought he got aggressive, pushed the ball, made plays, made threes. The kid is 22 [years old], and he’s gonna get better every night.”
- On Sunday, the Lakers immortalized legendary former head coach Pat Riley with a statue outside Crypto.com Arena (still hate that name). Doc Rivers, who played under Riley when they were both on the New York Knicks, talked about Riley being the one who got him into coaching in the first place:
“People think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not; if Pat Riley never coaches me, I never coach; it’s that simple. Mike Fratello would argue he’s the one; he always told me I was going to coach, but I was hell-bent on going into TV when I was playing with the Hawks. During the summer, I worked for TNT and CNN, and I was going to become a broadcaster; that is what I wanted to do. Then I played for Pat Riley, and I just watched him coach. How he motivated, how he pushed, and it changed me. I’m sure it’s in one of Pat’s books; the big blow-up argument we had, a lot of it was over that. He said, ‘you’re gonna coach one day,’ and I was so mad at him at the time, I told him, ‘have you frickin’ lost your mind?’ The fact that I’m closing in on him, with a chance to pass him in wins, is crazy to me. I never thought I’d do it this long, and I’d like it this much because I never wanted to do it.”
- Rivers also said that he thinks coaches should go back to wearing suits in the playoffs, after Pat Riley said as much. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra seemed a bit more tepid about the idea:
“Pat and I debate about this all the time. We went to the Hall of Fame for Mickey Arison (owner of the Miami Heat). So, I had to wear back-to-back nights of suits, and I swear that’s all Pat was talking about. I could see the argument both ways. I think as long as we look professional and different from the players, I think that’s great. I think it’s becoming a little bit different in corporate America, but then I also see Pat’s point of view. When I see the footage of him from the Lakers to the Knicks to the Heat, he did look sharp.”
Up Next
The Bucks are back in action tonight in the second game of a back-to-back, as they’ll be hosting the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers with James Harden. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central time, and you can watch it on both FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and over the air on WMLW.