Down Giannis, Gary Harris, Bobby Portis, Kyle Kuzma, and Kevin Porter Jr., the Milwaukee Bucks got walloped by the Portland Trail Blazers 130-99. Ryan Rollins was the lone bright spot for the Bucks, notching a career-high 36 points, while Donovan Clingan led the Blazers with 14 points and 15 rebounds (six offensive).
Game Recap
The Bucks got off to a rough start, giving up a 10-0 run almost immediately before Ryan Rollins halted it with a Dame-esque side-step three. The Bucks would climb back
into it, luckily, with Ousmane Dieng nailing a bomb to make the deficit just two, 14-12, at the seven-minute mark. Unfortunately, Milwaukee lost the rope from there, with Portland’s lead expanding to double digits behind a Jerami Grant run. You could tell the Bucks were light on bodies when Andre Jackson Jr. and Thanasis (yes, Thanasis) got run towards the end of the period, which… went about as you’d expect. Blazers up 42-27 after one.
Old friend Jrue Holiday was licking his chops at his former side, nailing his fourth triple of the game to open the second, but was answered in kind by AJax from the top of the key. The Bucks answered a fair few Blazers’ buckets as the quarter progressed, but the home team began to run over them and push their lead to above 20 by the seven-minute mark. Donovan Clingan was murdering the Bucks’ small front line, gobbling up rebound after rebound on both ends, giving his team a boatload of second-chance opportunities. By halftime, up 71-49, the Blazers had 10 O-boards to the Bucks’ three and 12 second-chance points to the Bucks’ two.
Milwaukee’s defence did not improve in the third quarter, but its offence sure did, losing the period by just one, 33-32. Ryan Rollins was the story, scoring 17 points in the period, including going 3/5 from deep. There were also some nice moments where player development shone through, with Jericho Sims knocking down a floater after moving Donovan Clingan. But yeah, the defence was as non-existent as it had been all game; a lot of that was just because the Bucks were so small, but there were certainly tactical mistakes. Portland led 104-81 after three.
After keeping the Blazers’ lead from ballooning out much further than 20, the Bucks relented to start the fourth, allowing it to expand to 30 following Scoot Henderson’s third bomb of the night. On the plus side, Rollins recorded a new career high of 34 points after hitting his sixth three-pointer of the game, besting his previous high of 32 (which came earlier this season against the Warriors, obviously). Rollins would check out with four minutes to go after notching 36 in total, making way for Cormac Ryan to get his second chance at NBA minutes this season. All in all, another disappointing night for the Bucks.
Stat That Stood Out
The Bucks actually did OK in quarters 2-4, but gave up 42 points in the opening frame, which ultimately did them in.
