Well, in a game that was bound to happen eventually, the Milwaukee Bucks got trounced 132-100 by the Houston Rockets. Point blank, the Bucks looked like a team in the first year of a rebuild, while the Rockets looked like a team with its eyes firmly set on the title. Their defence was like a boa constrictor, slowly choking the Bucks until they had no life left. Tough one; Milwaukee will process it and quickly move on to the next thing, as they will have a lot to do this season. Read our full summary
of the game here.
Player Grades
Ryan Rollins
17 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 PF, 2/14 FG, 0/3 3P, -8
Man, after a few games where it felt like Rollins was getting back to himself, he turns in this stinker. It does feel like Rollins lost some confidence in himself. Did y’all see him pass out of that fast break layup attempt? I will say that 1) Rollins was able to create at a decent level, and 2) the Rockets might just be the worst team to play when you’re trying to find a rhythm.
Grade: D
Tyler Herro
27 minutes, 23 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 turnovers, 9/13 FG, 4/6 3P, -12
Yet again, Herro stands up as the only true shining light. The Rockets were able to shut down Herro’s passing game (though others would have needed to make shots for him to register assists), but he still got his on elite efficiency. Yeah, Houston’s bigger wings definitely picked on Herro, but I thought he competed made them take tough shots most of the time.
Grade: B
Jaime Jaquez Jr.
27 minutes, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 7/13 FG, 3/6 3P , -14
After a blip against Indy, Jaquez was right back to the level he’d been playing at. Jaquez was one of the only Bucks who had any modicum of success getting downhill or making spot-up threes. I also thought JJJ was solid guarding the bigger Rockets wings.
Grade: B
Kyle Kuzma
18 minutes, 4 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2/6 FG, 0/2 3P, -3
Just a bit of a nothing game from Kuzma. Somewhat predictably, he wasn’t able to generate good shots against that defence, and also wasn’t able to punish from the perimeter.
Grade: D+
Myles Turner
22 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 2/7 FG, 0/5 3P, -2
Well, Turner’s stat line shows his defensive impact is on the rise, at least. I thought he set solid screens, which allowed for some great pick-and-pop looks from three, but they all rimmed out. Those shots were the right ones to take, but man, at some point the big fella has to get his three-ball going; currently shooting a daftly 18.2%.
Grade: C-
Kel’el Ware
16 minutes, 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2/9 FG, 0/3 3P, -31
One of Ware’s next steps is to be able to match it against physically dominant teams like the Rockets. Ware looked outmatched at nearly every point he was on the floor, and the Rockets made him look small. On the positive side, I thought Ware’s shot selection was solid.
Grade: D
Kasparas Jakucionis
18 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, 1/3 FG, 0/2 3P, -18
I mean, Jakucionis got places on the court better than I thought he’d be able to, which allowed him to draw multiple defenders and kick out to open teammates. The passing was encouraging for sure, but it was tough for KJ to get much offence going (like most of the youngins).
Grade: C-
Brayden Burries
17 minutes, 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3/6 FG, 0/2 3P, 4/5 FT, -18
I thought Burries did some really positive things in his minutes. He played solid on-ball defence on Reed Sheppard and showcased his offensive creation more in a low-stakes setting. Had a nice pull-up jumper on Oscar Tshiebwe and got himself to the charity stripe twice. It’s great experience.
Grade: C+
AJ Green
24 minutes, 9 points, 2 assists, 3/5 FG, 3/5 3P, -18
Green did his job in this one; not much more to say. One note: his passing out of the pick-and-roll has definitely improved. Had a great rep coming off the horns action, forcing the nail help to tag the rolling Sims, and then zipping it over to the open Ament at the top of the key for three. Had a very similar play against Indiana.
Grade: C+
Nate Ament
19 minutes, 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 4 PF, 2/8 FG, 1/4 3P, 3/4 FT, -11
The stat sheet won’t show it, but I thought Ament’s impact on the game was quite positive. First off: the defence; he had a crazy block meeting Jabari Smith Jr. at the summit and did a genuinely good job guarding Kevin Durant. On the other hand, Ament’s off-ball defence is lagging; he got mixed up on a few switches against Houston’s “77” action (double screen in the middle of the floor), and Reed Sheppard got open on the perimeter because of that. I’m not going to overindex on Ament’s shooting efficiency because of the inexperienced lineups deployed from the middle of the third quarter onward; someone had to shoot, and against that defence, most were low-quality attempts.
Grade: B-
Ousmane Dieng
13 minutes, 4 points, 2/5 FG, 0/1 3P, -8
Dieng had a nice drive to split the defence and finish at the rim, but I don’t see him impacting in many other areas of the game right now.
Grade: C-
Taylor Jenkins
I’m not sure Jenkins could have done much more to affect the result in this one. On the broadcast, he seemed invested in the game the whole time, which was good to see. Also, I appreciated that Jenkins didn’t bother putting the starters back in after the game was lost by the middle of the third, and instead let the young guys “run wild” for a bit. That at least gave me a reason to keep watching.
Grade: C
Limited minutes: Jericho Sims, Gary Trent Jr., Bogoljub Markovic
DNP-CD: Caris LeVert,
Inactive: Kam Jones, Cormac Ryan, Pete Nance
What We Learnt
Look, I don’t want to get ahead of myself here because it is early, but Nate Ament is showing some good signs as a wing defender. It says a lot that, at this point, I don’t even think Ament knows what he’s doing defensively, yet he’s consistently forced high-calibre wings to take tough shots. Jaylen Brown, Pascal Siakam, and now Kevin Durant (his idol). Seriously, it feels like as long as Ament keeps his hands out and stays in front, he can use his length to make dudes work hard just to get the ball over him, let alone make the shot. Let’s just say I’m intrigued.
Bonus Bucks Bits
- The Bucks didn’t shoot their first free throw off a shooting foul until the third quarter—that’s how good this Rockets defence is.
- Jenkins had Nate Ament guarding at centre for a few minutes late in the third quarter before Jericho Sims came in.
- Milwaukee actually scored at a solid rate in the third quarter but couldn’t defend; they dropped 34 but gave up 38. This contrasts sharply with the first two quarters, when the Bucks scored just 21 and 14 points, respectively.
Up Next
The Bucks return Saturday night to close out this three-game home stand against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Watch at 7:00 p.m. CDT on MY24.
