Franchise records, cardinal sins, basketball gods, and the unexpected. Volume 7 is nothing if not varied. And while the past fortnight might have seemed all doom and gloom to begin, a win streak and the quiet celebration of a post-trade deadline with Giannis still here have brought some much-needed positive mojo back to the Bucks. Rejoice!
@ Sixers
To begin, the land is flat, city streets gently rolling at worst. One street into another. Into another, into another. Eventually, there’s movement. Subtle. Tectonic.
Paul George trails the play then steps into a 27-footer, putting the Sixers up eight. On their next trip down, he rises again—splash—and an incline becomes noticeable. Two minutes and forty-eight seconds of game time and a three-quarter time break later, George is back at it, hitting again from 27 feet. Then, just 37 seconds on from that, a painted landscape: George screens and then gets screened as he curls to the corner, dropping yet another—a franchise-record-tying ninth triple. By the time it falls through the hoop and the Bucks are back on offence, you’d swear they’re in San Francisco, or at Denali. A mountain looms.
Win probability prior to George’s initial 27-footer: 23.3%
Win probability following his ninth three: 1.4%
@ Wizards
The Bucks don’t score for the first three minutes. Don’t get their second bucket for another two. Don’t reach 10 points until there’s only 4:50 left in the quarter. But somehow, with 45 seconds left on the clock, a Pete Nance tip-in gives them the lead. It caps a 10-2 run that should give the Bucks momentum going into the second. Instead, on the very next possession, Bobby Portis fouls Bub Carrington on a 32-footer. And one. Four-point play. Then, with just 2.2 seconds left in the quarter, Nance commits the same sin, sending Will Riley to the line to shoot three. He makes them all, and the Wizards take a two-point lead into the break that the Bucks can never get back. But considering where the season is right now, you don’t mind. Not. One. Bit.
Win probability prior to Portis’ foul: 67.2%
Win probability following Riley’s free throws: 56.3%
@ Celtics
There’s hardware up for grabs and the Bucks start en fuego—middies to Rollins and Portis, threes to Rollins and Kuzma—and suddenly it’s a 12-0 lead. The crowd is stunned, silent. Kuzma keeps pressing, getting to the line, and then Myles Turner gets in on the action with a 27-footer that makes you think his recent hot form ain’t just a streak: up fake, 360 pivot, pull-back—phone booth stuff—nothing but the bottom. 16-6 Bucks. Showing out in the inaugural NBA Pioneers Classic. They even get a miss on the other end, Payton Pritchard back-rimming his own 27-footer. But when Turner and then Rollins fail to control the rebound, it starts to smell like trouble. And when Turner compounds the error, watching frozen as Neemias Queta turns middle and two-dribbles into an uncontested left-hand dunk, it flat-out stinks. The TD Garden crowd finds its voice and the Celtics go on a 99-63 run the rest of the way.
Win probability following Turner’s three: 44.9%
Win probability following Queta’s dunk: 42.6%
vs. Bulls
Okay, I confess: I didn’t watch this one. You get it, don’t you? They’d lost five on the trot. By an average of 15.4 points. Bobby Portis joined Giannis, Taurean Prince, Kevin Porter Jr., and Gary Harris on the inactive list. Amir Coffey started. Bucks trade rumours were running wild. Actual trades were going down. Podcasts and podcasts and podcasts and podcasts. But hey, Kuz turned into Giannis, Trent found his stroke, and I’m the loser. I can live with it.
Win probability prior to the game: 51.8%
Win probability following my decision to forego it: 100% (apparently)
vs. Pelicans
It’s trade deadline eve and a million unanswered questions flit in the air like leaves in a tornado. Will the Bucks trade Giannis? Will they make an offer for Michael Porter Jr.? Why are there rumours about Cam Thomas? But only one of them carries real weight. Do you believe in god?
Deep in the fourth quarter of the Bucks’ matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans, long after you’ve forgotten they’re really only playing to protect their draft pick, it’s a ballgame. And you’re invested. Zion Williamson sinks a pair of free throws to put the Pels up two with just 58 seconds on the clock. Then Kevin Porter Jr., back from the indefinite, spins tornado-like into a dunk that ties it up. And after Zion gets called for an offensive foul, KPJ again touches paint and finds Myles Turner in the corner. He rises up for three—for the win—only for the refs to initiate a review and, somehow, waive it off. You’re enraged, fists clenched, yelling out His name in vain. Regardless, it’s overtime, and before you know it, it arrives—the moment. Up two after a Rollins layup, KPJ finds Turner again—this time on the wing, feet well inside the sidelines—and he lets it fly. The shot is clearly long, bypassing the rim entirely. But it does find glass. Then net. And the Bucks hold on from there. Protect the pick.
Later that night, as you lie awake in bed, the question rears itself again. Do you believe in god? No, you think. Then pause. But I sure as hell believe in the basketball gods.
Win probability after Turner’s game-winner is waived off: 46.6%
Win probability after Turner’s bank shot three: 80.6%
vs. Pacers
Sitting on his lounge room couch, scrolling on his phone, Jericho Sims’ heart skips a beat—the Bucks have just traded for centre Nick Richards. Sims discards his phone, heads straight to Fiserv. Gets to work. He stays there overnight, minutes turning into hours turning into tip-off against the Indiana Pacers. And he’s starting. His presence is felt early—five decisive caroms—but it’s a sequence in the second that tells the story. Sims finds his anti-gravity, comes out of nowhere to throw a Johnny Furphy attempt off the backboard that turns into a transition deep two for Bobby Portis. Back on the other end, Sims collects another rebound and turns point-forward, milks the hot hand so well Jason Kidd would be proud, and Portis pays it off for three. Timeout, Pacers. Four-point deficit to one-point lead. 26 seconds of utter dominance. By the half, he’s already got double-digit rebounds. By the end of the game, he’s arguably the most valuable player of the night. It’s not until he gets home and finds his phone that he sees Richards was traded before arrival for Ousmane Dieng. Good thing, he thinks. Wasn’t gonna take my spot anyway. And with that, Jericho Sims may have just saved his career.
Win probability prior to Sims’ block on Furphy: 33.9%
Win probability after Sims drops it off to Portis for three: 49.1%
New to Momentum Moments is a fan poll giving you the final say on what moment hit hardest. Cast your vote below and, as always, add your thoughts in the comments.
