The Milwaukee Bucks lost bigly, 137-111, to the Detroit Pistons as this depressing season draws to a close. But you know what’s not depressing? Jericho Sims! The big man recorded the first trip-dub of his career. But yeah, it was a rough one as the Pistons ran all over the Bucks, winning the season series 3-1. 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
Pete Nance
17 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 0/4 FG, 0/3 3P, -21
Yeah… nothing
much to report for Nance. At least he didn’t bomb away.
Grade: D
Ryan Rollins
32 minutes, 23 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, 8/19 FG, 1/6 3P, -10
An OK game from Rollins. Not his best, but not his worst either. He had two bad live-ball turnovers, throwing it cross-court, as well as a de facto turnover shooting a three on a no-pass offence barely any seconds into the shot clock. Having said all of this, Ausar Thomspon doesn’t exactly make it easy for you.
Grade: B
Taurean Prince
27 minutes, 15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 5/10 FG, 5/8 3P, -7
Like AJ, the only shots TP made were threes, and most of them were incredibly tough looks in which he had a split second to get the shot off, and made them, which was impressive to see. He did have a few poor closeouts, though.
Grade: B-
Ousmane Dieng
26 minutes, 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 turnovers, 6/13 FG, 4/8 3P, -20
Dieng was better last night than he was against the Nets from a shooting POV (including some nice step-backs), but man, the finishing at the rim can be rough; he has to get stronger in the offseason. Also had a horror sequence where he helped on the strong-side corner for no good reason, leaving his man open for an easy three, and then dribbled down and threw a cross-court pass that ended up as a Pistons pick-six. I will say that Ous 1) turned it over less, and 2) competed more on the offensive boards than I recall him doing; he had a nice tip to Sims in this one.
Grade: B-
AJ Green
30 minutes, 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 4/9 FG, 4/8 3P, -18
It’s been great to see AJ get more threes up full stop, but super great that he’s been making them at a way better clip. Over the last six games, he’s shooting 46.2% on a whopping 8.7 attempts per game. Hit a number of tough ones in this game. Whew!
Grade: B
Jericho Sims
38 minutes, 11 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, 3/6 FG, -20
Sims’ game just continues to blossom, and you can see the confidence washing over him. Doc continues to use him as a hub, and he’s getting increasingly comfortable making plays and trusting himself in that role. A fair few of Jericho’s assists came off scramble situations where he found a shooter before the defence had set, but he also had some advanced backdoor passes to Rollins and Ryan. Furthermore, he’s trusting himself to take dudes one-on-one a few times every game now, something he wouldn’t have dared to try at the start of the season.
Grade: A+
Cormac Ryan
24 minutes, 16 points, 6/9 FG, 3/6 3P, -11
Another solid game from Cormac. He nailed some threes, but the most intriguing part of his game has been his ability to finish in the paint, whether that be with moves around the rim or just short little jumpers.
Grade: B+
Gary Trent Jr.
19 minutes, 7 points, 3/12 FG, 0/8 3P, -16
GT returned from a decent layoff, but didn’t have it. He looked like the same player we’d seen for most of this season. Had a pretty pathetic effort fighting on the inside against Beef Stew. Did make two layups, though, so you know I have to give an ode to my guy Morgan: “Gary at the rim, Gary at the rim. It’s scary, it’s scary. It’s Gary at the rim!“
Grade: D
Doc Rivers
I think Jericho’s career game last night had a lot to do with Doc empowering him more and more as the season has progressed, so Doc deserves some credit for that. The Bucks were never going to beat that team, but again, they played together and didn’t allow it to get too ugly—that’s all you can really ask for.
Grade: C+
Garbage Time: Alex Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Andre Jackson Jr., Gary Harris
Inactive: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Myles Turner, Bobby Portis, Kyle Kuzma, Kevin Porter Jr.
Bonus Bucks Bits
- Doc said Jericho getting a triple-double was “awesome.” Noted that they kept him in and worked to check the boxes as a team as the game wound down.
- Rivers credited Ous for turning it over less, and also defended his high turnover numbers of late because of the lack of other ballhandlers on the team. “There are times when he’s your primary ballhandler, and that’s something, obviously, that we wouldn’t be doing, [but] we have no choice with the bodies.”
- Eric Nehm tweeted that Cleaning the Glass has Ous shooting 65% at the rim since joining the Bucks.
- Credit Finn for notifying me of this, but Cormac Ryan (12) now has more made shots from 0-5 feet than AJ Green (11) for the entire season in nine games played, compared to Green’s 76.
Up Next
The Bucks play their final home game of the season tomorrow night against the Nets. Catch the game at 7:00. p.m. CDT on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.
