The Milwaukee Bucks put on a show coming out of the break, beating the New Orleans Pelicans 139-118. Ryan Rollins led the Bucks on both ends, dropping 27 points (on a career-high seven threes), six assists, four steals, and two blocks. Special mention to Kevin Porter Jr. and Cam Thomas, who dropped a combined 52 points. The Pels were led by Zion Williamson, who dropped 32 points on 13/17 shooting.
Game Recap
The Pels got out to a quick start, making a bunch of easy looks at the rim. Ryan Rollins,
however, was saving the Bucks’ bacon, nailing several contested long-range shots to have the game even at 10 apiece. Then, the Bucks went on a 5-0 run, featuring Kyle Kuzma punching it reverse-style twice in a row. Milwaukee would make a move to go up 26-18; there must have been something in that bayou air because this run featured a Bobby Portis putback slam. The Pels would respond with a 7-0 run, though, punctuated by the Milwaukee native Jordan Poole nailing a bomb in transition. Zion Williamson really flexed his muscle to end the period, scoring a bunch of times to put New Orleans up 38-33 after one.
Cam Thomas, who did not score in the opening frame, got the Bucks the lead back to open the second with a three and an and-one. Unfortunately, Zion would snatch the lead right back for the Pels, already scoring his eighth bucket from 10 tries early in the second. Remember when I said Cam Thomas hadn’t scored until the second quarter? Yeah, well he was up to 16 on 6/9 shooting less than halfway through the period, making a bunch of ridiculous shots to put the Bucks at 53-49. I’ll be honest with you, neither team played a lick of defence to close the half, with both sides turning it over in the open court a number of times. The visitors were up 71-65 going into the locker room.
The Bucks were scoring at a solid rate to open the second, with KPJ, Rollins, and Portis boarding the tough-shot express. That said, the Pels were scoring at the same rate, able to keep the margin at the 6-9-point mark throughout the opening four minutes. New Orleans got it within two a few times, but the Bucks had an answer (often Rollins or Thomas) on every occasion. And in Rollins’ case, I don’t just mean on offence; this dude had four steals and two blocks at the end of the third, making huge plays to save easy baskets under the rim. Bucks up 103-96 after three.
Like clockwork, Thomas opened the fourth with a few buckets to bring him to 27 on the night. Pate Nance then got in on the act, nailing a corner three and a tough layup to force James Borrego into a timeout—visitors up 113-104 with just under eight minutes left. The Bucks would go on a 7-2 run right out of the timeout, forcing yet another timeout from the Pels (and more KPJ dance moves). For all his flaws, KPJ is a bucket when he gets in that mode (and trust me, he was in that mode throughout the fourth). From there, it was all academic; Milwaukee beats their pick-swap nemesis.
Stat That Stood Out
The Bucks rank fifth in the NBA with a 48.1% shooting percentage. They shot a ridiculous 59.8% tonight. Good golly.
