Bucks Team Notes

[Milwaukee Bucks]

Check out the latest news about the Milwaukee Bucks.

 

[Milwaukee Bucks]

Rapid Recap: Bucks 135, Sixers 127

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

A Damian Lillard masterclass wins the season series over Philly

Down Giannis, who is sidelined through the All-Star break with a left calf strain, the Milwaukee Bucks notched their third win of the season over the Philadelphia 76ers behind a scintillating a season-high 43/8/8 performance from Damian Lillard. Tyrese Maxey paced the visitors with 39.

NBA.com Box Score

Game Recap​

Embiid started perfect from the field (as did the Sixers on their first four shots) with 15 early points, hitting three triples, but Lillard’s nine kept the scoreboard moving. Each side traded buckets for much of the period until a 13-2 Sixers run put them ahead seven. Fueled by Gary Trent Jr., a 12-4 Milwaukee run got them back into the game, and Kuzma swirled in a layup at the buzzer to put them up 40-39 after one. Maxey one-upped Embiid with 19 in 12 minutes.

That first-quarter shootout didn’t last. Milwaukee managed to jump in front by seven early in the second as Philly cooled off slightly, but their big three caught them back up when the home squad got caught in a slump halfway through. Out of a timeout with 4:05 until half, both teams broke out of their scoring doldrums with a 7-0 run for the Bucks and an 8-0 run for the Sixers. A Trent buzzer-beating three took the Bucks into the locker room up 65-63. Maxey poured in 26 in the first half, with Embiid just two behind.

No third quarter funk today. While back-to-back triples from Brook Lopez and Dame put the Bucks up eight, the Sixers answered both of them. But Lillard’s personal 9-0 run gave the Bucks their first double-digit lead midway through the frame. When he was going for 11 on a drive inside, Tyrese Maxey came in from the weak side to block it, resulting in a George three on the other end. Undeterred, Dame keyed a quick 8-0 run for Milwaukee after Philly cut it to four, growing their advantage to as much as 13. Through three, the Bucks led 103-91 behind Dame’s 15 third-quarter points, getting him up to 34.

Dame buried another longball seconds into the fourth, and back-to-back from GTJ gave the Bucks a 19-point edge. A 12-0 Bucks run made it a 25-point game as the Sixers played sloppily and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. Philadelphia did come back to within 12 just past the four-minute mark as Milwaukee’s defense was caught sleeping several times, and they couldn’t find nylon. Some late life from Maxey with the game mostly in control cut it to nine with under a minute to go until Nick Nurse emptied his bench with 44 seconds left. Embiid scored only three points in the second half.

Stat That Stood Out​

With how much trouble the Bucks have had on the glass lately, they were outstanding today, outrebounding the Sixers 53-42. Even more rare, for a team last in the league in this category was their 19 offensive rebounds. That led to 21 second-chance opportunities, from which they scored a stellar 31 points.

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Source: https://www.brewhoop.com/2025/2/9/2...illard-tyrese-maxey-joel-embiid-gary-trent-jr

 

[Milwaukee Bucks]

Bucks vs. Sixers: Philly not-so-special

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Damian Lillard eviscerates the 76ers on a big day for Philly sports

Behind a massive 43-point outing from Damian Lillard, the Giannis-less Bucks took out the healthy Sixers in a Sunday matinee at Fiserv Forum by a 135-125 final, their seventh straight win over Philly. Though Gary Trent Jr. (season-high 23 points) was the only other Buck above 18 points, all seven of his makes came from downtown as he and Dame became the first teammates in franchise history to each hit at least seven threes in the same game. Tyrese Maxey was the high man for the Sixers with 39. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.

What Did We Learn?​

As anyone who has watched the team lately knows, rebounding has been a serious problem of late Milwaukee. With Giannis out and Joel Embiid healthy, you might have though recent history would repeat itself. However, not only did the Bucks win the battler on the glass, they also notched a season-high 19 offensive rebounds. Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez each had seven of those as they consistently outmuscled Philly’s smaller big men like Justin Edwards and Guerschon Yabusele.

So what changed besides Portis’ return? This team is literally last in the NBA in offensive rebounding percentage, and they lacked the league’s fifth-leading rebounder. Was this a point of emphasis in the walkthrough this morning? Here’s what head coach Doc Rivers said:

We talked about it, so I will say that. With Giannis out, it doesn’t make as much sense, but when Giannis comes back and we have those three bigs in, we will have a chance because Kuzma and Giannis have enough speed to be an offensive rebounder and get back.

He also gave credit to Portis (12 rebounds), Kyle Kuzma (eight), and the Bucks’ guards (Dame had seven, Trent had six) for their efforts on the boards:

Without Giannis, who’s our best rebounder, we take a big hit there. Bobby’s been unbelievable. Kuz helps in that area as well. But we really focus on getting our guards in there as well, so I thought our guards did a good job tonight.

Three Times​

Dame Time, all the time!​

No doubt about it, this is exactly what you want to see from your All-Star point guard when your All-Star big man is on the shelf. Of course, he was dialed in with 14/27 shooting and 8/15 from beyond the arc, but what was most encouraging was how he struggled much less with traps than he has at points this season. Doc was pleased:

I told Dame that he needs to be an aggressive scorer and an aggressive playmaker, and that’s a hard thing to do. And I thought he did that tonight. I thought his downhill attacks to create buckets were great, and that led him to his shooting.

Postgame, Dame relayed to us that this is what Doc told him right before tip, and with his nine quick points in the opening minutes, that short notice worked well.

Trent Time?​

Not to be too outdone by his former Blazer teammate, Gary Trent hit 7/15 from deep and is shooting 53.6% on 28 attempts over the last three contests. In the first and early fourth, he went on three-point mini-binges that broke the Sixers’ backs a few times, also adding a buzzer-beater before halftime. He’s up to 43.0% on 5.5 attempts per game from distance. Defensively, I thought he was much better on Maxey than Andre Jackson Jr., who played just three second-half minutes. GTJ was able to deny Maxey the ball a fair bit in the third as the Bucks established firm control of the game, as the Sixer star took just two shots while playing all 12 minutes.

Tyrese Time...​

Thanks in part to Trent, Maxey had just three second-half points until the last six minutes when he scored 10 on 4/4 shooting, making the score look more respectable and forcing some timeouts from a frustrated Doc. Since the start of last season, Maxey has been a particularly prickly thorn in the Bucks’ side, averaging 31.0 PPG and hitting threes at a 40.6% clip. AJax got the assignment early, but as we’ve seen often, he isn’t a good matchup on smaller, quick guards with gaudy scoring numbers. Part of why I’d like to have seen the Bucks acquire someone like Davion Mitchell at the deadline last week.

Bonus Bucks Bits​

• This was the final NBA game behind the mic for Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster Hubie Brown. The 91-year-old and two-time NBA Coach of the Year ends his career as a broadcaster in the city where he began it as an assistant on Larry Costello’s staff as a Bucks assistant in 1972. The Bucks honored him with a video tribute after the first media timeout.
• If you missed it, Giannis was not only ruled out for this game yesterday, but ESPN’s Shams Charania reported before the game that he would miss the remaining games before the All-Star break and not partake in that exhibition.
• Kuzma made his first start as a Buck, taking Portis’ place in the starting five. Though he scored just four points after the first quarter, he was quite good on the glass and dished out five assists on his way to a 13/8/5 afternoon. I thought he also put in some good shifts defensively when he switched onto Embiid. Afterward, Doc said that while Kuz is “easy to fit in,” the coach saw a lot of action developing that made him say he wished Kuz knew the play.
• Embiid, George, and Maxey all appeared (and started) this game for Philly. That’s only the 13th time this has occurred since PG came to the City of Brotherly Love last offseason.
• Since returning from a six-game absence due to his grandmother’s death, Portis has had three consecutive double-doubles with 18 and 12 today.
• This was the first game in uniform for new Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., and while both he and new center Jericho Sims didn’t get off the bench today, Doc said they’d “both be playing in the near future, maybe tomorrow.”
• There was a possession midway through in the second quarter where Milwaukee got five offensive rebounds but couldn’t make a shot. One of them was about as wide open a corner three as GTJ will ever see.
• 24 three-point makes was also a season-high. The Bucks took a whopping 55 attempts this afternoon, one short of another season-high.
• Milwaukee came out moving the ball very well, with 10 assists on their first 15 buckets. They ended with 28 dimes. Doc mentioned that in Friday’s loss, the Bucks began their game with multiple possessions featuring zero passes, but in the second quarter, that jumped to four or five. He said he showed the team the plays with the most passes prior to the game, calling it a “subliminal message that wasn’t that subliminal.”
• Transition was yet again an issue defensively for Milwaukee, as Philly outscored them 26-7 on the break.
• Doc was a little “agitated” (his words) at needing to play Dame for 44 minutes on the front end of a back-to-back because of how they couldn’t put the Sixers away in the closing minutes, as they closed it to around 10 multiple times.
• During the game today, ABC’s Lisa Salters reported that Embiid said he may require another knee surgery this offseason and a “long recovery period.”

Up Next​

The Bucks are back in action tomorrow evening, finishing off their back-to-back with the Golden State Warriors. You can catch the action at 7 p.m. Central on ESPN, FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, or stream it on our Playback and YouTube channels.

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Source: https://www.brewhoop.com/2025/2/9/2...43-points-tyrese-maxey-joel-embiid-gary-trent

 

[Milwaukee Bucks]

Rapid Recap: Bucks 111, Warriors 125

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Milwaukee unable to survive Steph Curry going nuclear

In a SEGABABA at home, the Milwaukee Bucks tumbled against the Golden State Warriors, 125-111. Stephen Curry was his vintage self, dousing the Bucks with 38 points. Damian Lillard matched it with 38 points of his own, but he was one of the lone contributors on that side of the ball for Milwaukee.

NBA.com Box Score

As you might’ve guessed, the 3-pointers were flying left and right to kick this one off. Steph Curry was dialing it in, quickly erupting for several threes early on — some of which were pretty dazzling. Damian Lillard was right up there as well, pouring in ten points to lead Milwaukee. After one quarter of play, the Warriors were positioned slightly ahead, 29-27.

Golden State kept their lead steady throughout the second quarter, leveraging and capitalizing on some second-chance points throughout. Buddy Hield and Steph Curry fueled them with a combined five threes at the break, while Damian Lillard’s 18 points and Taurean Prince’s 13 points kept Milwaukee within single digits. At half, the Bucks found themselves down 58-51.

The momentum tides began to shift the Bucks’ way about 3 1⁄2 minutes into the third, as Draymond Green was called for a technical foul. However, it didn’t last long. Instead, the Warriors refused to break and instead took advantage of Pat Connaughton making an appearance midway in the third. They’d keep making it a priority to attack him and were successful on numerous occasions. That was one of the big reasons why they maintained their advantage as the fourth quarter rolled around, 89-83.

Two huge threes from Quinten Post forced a beyond exasperated Doc Rivers to call a timeout a few minutes into the fourth. Post continued to be a menace as the foundation around the Bucks began to crumble as the quarter progressed. A 3-pointer from him forced Rivers to call another timeout with just under seven minutes left and the Bucks down 14. A 20-4 run put the nail in the coffin for the Bucks, sending the Warriors out of town with a 125-111 victory.

Stat That Stood Out​

Other than Damian Lillard and Taurean Prince, the production from the Bucks was simply non-existent. Nobody was creating shots or taking advantage on the offensive side. With that kind of limited firepower, it’s easy to fall in a hole as Steph Curry’s draining threes in your face, which is exactly what happened to Milwaukee. This was definitely a game where they missed Giannis and his scoring.

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Source: https://www.brewhoop.com/2025/2/10/...-final-score-recap-steph-curry-damian-lillard

 

[Milwaukee Bucks]

Vote in the Brew Hoop Tuesday Tracker: Weigh in on the Middleton-Kuzma trade

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Tracking the larger sentiments of Bucks fans week by week.

Last week’s edition of the Tracker came out just under 24 hours prior to the Khris Middleton and AJ Johnson for Kyle Kuzma trade was agreed to initially. That later expanded into two other teams and a few more players, but unless you think Jericho Sims is a real diamond in the rough, the Bucks’ return didn’t change too meaningfully beyond what was first reported. As a reminder, the final form of the trade ended up as this:

• Bucks trade Middleton, Johnson, and a 2028 first-round pick swap to the Wizards, and Delon Wright to the Knicks
• Bucks acquire Kyle Kuzma and 2025 second-round pick from the Wizards, Jericho Sims from the Knicks, and a protected 2026 second-round pick from the Spurs

In this week’s Tuesday Tracker, we want your opinions now that you’ve had nearly a week to digest the move. We also want to know how—or if—you think Kuzma fits both short- and long-term with the Bucks, as well as how you feel about the Bucks’ other trade for Kevin Porter Jr.

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As always, this poll will be open until midnight Central on Friday, and we’ll post the results later that day. Thanks for voting!

Source: https://www.brewhoop.com/2025/2/11/...-khris-middleton-kevin-porter-jr-jericho-sims

 

[Milwaukee Bucks]

It’s about damn time that Marques Johnson makes the Hall of Fame

Set Number: X22101

A Bucks legend and fan favorite deserves it more than some already enshrined.

Right before the holidays, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame released its 2025 ballot, featuring current head coach Doc Rivers and three former Bucks. You can see the entire ballot here, and while Doc is a first-time nominee, franchise legend and current television analyst Marques Johnson has been on the ballot many times. I’m guessing Doc will be voted in this year (yes, Bucks and Sixers fans, he is 100% a Hall of Fame coach) since he is eighth all-time in wins, just 13 away from Phil Jackson for seventh. If not this year, it’ll happen before long.

We’re not here today to discuss Rivers, though. We’re here to advocate for an injustice to be corrected, one that’s long overdue: Marques Johnson belongs in the Hall of Fame. Even if we’re just evaluating him on his broadcasting, I think he could get in. After returning to Milwaukee and introducing himself to a new generation of Bucks fans as the team’s lead color commentator, Johnson gained legions of fans with his witticisms and cerebral, mellifluous descriptions of the action on the floor. Folks around the league know it too: he has high-profile writer fans like Zach Lowe, and Awful Announcing named the Bucks booth a top-ten unit in their quadrennial NBA Announcer rankings twice.

Johnson would have to keep broadcasting for another decade or two to make it in on those strengths, which are a feather in the cap of a player whose case is already strong enough. Though he was traded to the Clippers for Terry Cummings, Craig Hodges, and Ricky Pierce (all important Bucks in their own rights as well) in 1984, Johnson accumulated enough numbers in his seven years as a Buck to rank among the franchise’s leaders in multiple categories. Even to this day, he remains top 10 in minutes played, field goals, field goal percentage, free throws, points, rebounds, blocks, steals, triple-doubles, box plus-minus, PER, and win shares. His number 8 was deservedly retired by the team in 2019.

That production earned him plenty of recognition in terms of the usual benchmarks for Hall of Fame players. The original MJ (yes, when the MJ everyone knows had a poster of you in his dorm room at UNC, you’re the original MJ) made three All-NBA teams, including a First Team selection in just his second season. He also made five All-Star games while Nelson helped transform him from not only a scorer and rebounder but into one of the NBA’s first point forwards, averaging at least 20.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 3.5 APG (over 4.0 three times) nearly every year in Milwaukee. Those were somewhat unheard-of numbers for small forwards in the late 70s, particularly those who were their team’s primary scoring options. Johnson struggled with substance abuse and personal tragedy in his 20s, checking into rehab at 26. With that in mind, he received the final NBA Comeback Player of the Year award in 1986, his last full season, after returning to his typical scoring averages following his first year as a Clipper.

Had he not suffered a serious neck injury during his third year in LA at age 30, Johnson likely would be in the Hall already with a few more years at that level of play. Lesser-accomplished players like Mo Cheeks, Bill Bradley, and Calvin Murphy are already in. They racked up fewer accolades, some with just a couple thousand more in counting stats, thanks to better longevity. Or they won rings as third fiddles (at best). Then there are names like K.C. Jones and Jamaal Wilkes—guys who had the fortune of being on good teams at the right time and won tons of rings without as much individual glory. Johnson doesn’t belong alongside guys like this?

Furthermore, Johnson’s college accomplishments as a UCLA Bruin are as impressive, if not better, than those of Bradley or Ralph Sampson, the latter of whom is definitely in the Hall based on how dominant he was in the NCAA. While MJ has only one Player of the Year award and All-America selection to Sampson’s three apiece, Johnson has a national championship, John Wooden’s final title in a legendary career. He also had a longer and better NBA career than Sampson. This isn’t to say Sampson shouldn’t be in Springfield—he absolutely should be. This just means there is ample precedence for Johnson.

Yes, some will say that those are not NBA achievements. And to be fair, Johnson is already a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame. But this is not the NBA Hall of Fame. This is the Basketball Hall of Fame. Its walls are filled with men like Oscar Schmidt and women like Senda Berenson Abbott—people who never touched an NBA court or coached an NBA game because they were that important to the game all over our planet. It’s not always about what you did in the world’s most prestigious league, even if what MJ did on the floor was both outstanding and even verged on revolutionary for those early 80s Bucks squads.

So, will he finally make it this year? Among first-ballot player nominees in 2025, we have surefire first-ballot entrant Carmelo Anthony and two former Defensive Players of the Year: Dwight Howard and Marc Gasol. These three are likely to be in at some point, and all three may enter this year. Let’s take a look at why:

• Though Melo never made an All-NBA First Team and won just three playoff series in his career, topping off with the 2009 Western Conference Finals, he was named to the NBA’s Top 75 for a reason: he’s 12th all-time in points scored. Add in six All-NBA selections (though none were First Team) and a whole bunch of All-Star nods, and there’s little doubt he’ll be in this year.
• Howard is 11th all-time in rebounds and 15th all-time in blocks—numbers that compare favorably with other inductees like Nate Thurmond and Ben Wallace, nearly matching the latter with three DPOYs. He’ll get in at some point, perhaps this year.
• Gasol may one day join his big brother Pau in Springfield, but has fewer accolades than both him and Howard. He does have a late-career ring as a role player in Toronto, though, plus is very accomplished internationally in his native Spain and for their national team with two Olympic silver medals and two FIBA World Cup wins.

But here’s something important: Gasol is part of the international category this year, not the North American group where Johnson and all the other players we’re discussing are found. So MJ doesn’t have to compete with Gasol; that committee enshrines one player per year. The big Spaniard easily has the best resume of this year’s international crop and he won’t need to worry about votes going to other NBA guys.

Unfortunately, a change in eligibility requirements is affecting Johnson’s likelihood in 2025. Last fall, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton seemed to think this would finally be the year MJ got the call:

Johnson has been a finalist three of the past six years and with no likely first-time selections, 2025 seems as if it could be his year. Johnson’s career totals were limited by injury, but he’s a five-time All-Star who was also a legend at UCLA, where he helped John Wooden to his final championship in 1975 and later won national player of the year honors as a senior in 1977.

However, the Hall reduced its waiting period from two to three seasons as of this year, so those three are eligible earlier than expected. Pelton may not have known that when writing, plus he thought Gasol wouldn’t be on the ballot for another few years since he played two more seasons in his native Spain upon leaving the NBA in 2021. Thankfully, Gasol is in a different category.

Other first-timers include Amar’e Stoudemire and Robert Horry. Stat had a fantastic start to his career in Phoenix but tailed off quickly within a year of arriving in New York. But with five All-NBA selections, he may get in sometime soon. Famously, Horry has more NBA championship rings than anyone who wasn’t a part of the Celtics dynasty in the 50s and 60s, though averaged only 7.0 PPG over 16 seasons as a reserve. Big Shot Bob is an important player in NBA history, given the crucial playoff buckets that got him that nickname, but a Hall-of-Famer? I’d be very surprised.

In December, Frank Urbina of HoopsHype deemed Johnson the 14th-best player not in the Hall, beneath Melo, Howard, Stoudemire, several guys who aren’t on this year’s ballot (Shawn Kemp, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Joe Johnson, Derrick Rose, Jermaine O’Neal, and Latrell Sprewell), plus the other holdovers we’ll discuss below. Those last three I listed make little sense to me based on how well—or better—MJ compares in terms of counting stats or individual awards.

Urbina also uses “not winning much” as a demerit against Johnson, “making the playoffs just six times—and getting to the Conference Finals just once over those six chances.” For a guy who played only nine full seasons, that seems pretty good to me. And as any longtime Bucks fan knows, it was impossible to get past the Celtics and Sixers in the early 80s: those Don Nelson teams could take a series from one of them in some years but never both. Plus, Calvin Murphy also made the playoffs just six times, though he got to the 1981 NBA Finals.

Holdover nominees alongside Johnson with a decent argument for Springfield include Tom Chambers, Penny Hardaway, Maurice Lucas, Bill Laimbeer, Shawn Marion, and Buck Williams. Here’s how they stack up:

• Chambers is one of only four retired players (a group that includes Melo) who scored over 20,000 points but aren’t in the Hall. He was picked for four All-Star teams and two All-NBA Second Teams.
• Hardaway was one of the most visible star players of the mid-90s, teaming with a young Shaq for a 1995 Finals appearance and making First Team All-NBA twice.
• Lucas was the leading scorer on Portland’s 1977 championship squad and one of the most prominent power forwards of the late 70s and early 80s, racking up five All-Star berths and making one All-NBA Second Team.
• Laimbeer was a notorious instigator on the Bad Boy Pistons, one of the most famous teams in NBA history, made four All-Star teams, and was a key part of two title-winners.
• Like Laimbeer, Marion is also in the 10,000 rebounds club alongside many inductees, has a few All-Star berths, two All-NBA teams, and somehow didn’t make any All-Defensive teams despite finishing top ten in DPOY voting four times.
• Williams is 16th all-time in boards; the only player with more who isn’t in Springfield is Howard. What Williams lacked in All-Star (three) and All-NBA (one) appearances, the longtime Net and Blazer made up for somewhat with four All-Defensive selections.

Johnson’s NBA case is as good, but probably better than all of these names, not to mention his NCAA body of work. There also are a number of pro and college coaches who stand a chance, notably first-time nominees Rivers and Mark Few. They are also eligible in the North American category, along with players and even referees, so interestingly, Rivers is competing with Johnson for a spot.

While things got a lot tougher once the eligibility requirements were cut by a year, all is not lost for Johnson. In 2026, presumptive new nominees are questionable: Andre Iguodala, Blake Griffin, John Wall, and Aldridge. Had it not been for the inclusion of Melo and Howard, Johnson’s main competition in 2025 might have been just Stoudemire and the other holdovers. Even if this all doesn’t work out, he could always get in from the veteran’s committee, which requires players to be retired for 35 years. MJ’s final game was in November 1989, so he should be eligible there if he falls off the North America list, though he did play briefly in Italy in 1990.

The good news is that Johnson isn’t currently in danger of falling off the ballot, it seems. Per the Hall:

If a nominee receives zero affirmative votes for three consecutive years, that nominee’s candidacy is suspended for five years after which time he/she may again be reviewed by the appropriate Screening Committee. There is no limitation on the number of years a nominee may be considered for Enshrinement by a Screening Committee provided that the nominee receives at least one affirmative vote in any given three-year period.

MJ was last a finalist in 2022 and probably received at least one yes in the years since. So long as he gets a minimum of one affirmative from the nine-member North American committee, he’ll continue sticking around. Furthermore, if a finalist isn’t elected for five consecutive years, their nomination is suspended for five years. As a finalist from 2018–2022, he just missed out on that cut.

Finalists are revealed tomorrow, and there are only two other names (Anthony and Howard) that merit induction more than Johnson. He needs to be a finalist again this year, and a plaque with his face on it needs to be where it belongs in Springfield, Massachusetts. MJ was a more impactful player both in the NBA and to basketball as a whole than any almost other nominee, including the holdovers. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is about what you mean to the game of basketball, and basketball is better because of Marques Johnson.

Source: https://www.brewhoop.com/2025/2/13/...johnson-naismith-basketball-hall-of-fame-ucla

 

[Milwaukee Bucks]

Rapid Recap: Rockets 100, Bucks 97

Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

Offensive rebounding woes sink Milwaukee

The Milwaukee Bucks got throttled by turnover and offensive rebounding woes, losing 97-100 to the Houston Rockets. Giannis led the Bucks with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. The Rockets had 48 points combined by Jalen Green and Amen Thompson.

NBA.com Box Score

Game Recap​

Both teams traded buckets (and misses) in the opening minutes. Then the Rockets got a bit of separation behind buckets from Jalen Green and Alperen Şengün, but the Bucks got right back with crucial scores from (their own) Green and Giannis. At the first timeout, it was 26-20 Houston. Both teams went relatively cold from there, and the quarter ended with the Rockets up 30-25.

KPJ got the Bucks off the mark in the second with a pick-six into a dunk, followed by a Kuz wing triple, and another KPJ open-court steal to cap the Bucks’ electrifying 7-0 run to start the second. The Bucks then let themselves down a bit, allowing their fifth offensive rebound to give the Rockets yet another second-chance opportunity—the one major letdown of the game thus far. These missed rebounding opportunities were compounded by consecutive Rockets transition threes to increase the lead to 44-36. Crucially, Dame then made two transition threes off Taurean The Creator passes to respond. From there, the Bucks finished pretty damn well, leading 59-57 at half.

Both teams got off to slow starts out of the half, trading misses (and buckets) in the opening minutes. I swear Giannis got the chair pulled out from him while simultaneously being pulled down for, like, the third time in the game and the referees just refused to call it. Very frustrating. The Bucks then took two bad shots, leading to easy points down the other end, but the Rockets did the same thing, allowing the Bucks to go on their own 5-0 run, bringing the deficit to three at 75-78. AJ Green came up huge after that with back-to-back threes to wrench the lead back to Milwaukee. Game was tied at 85 at the end of three.

The fourth quarter lineup of KPJ, Trent, Kuz, Green, and Sims was rough. There were four turnovers and, like, three blocked shots in the space of the opening three minutes. Remarkably, the Rockets were equally as ugly, only registering three points during that stretch as Doc put an end to the suffering, calling a timeout. Giannis and Dame checked in with just over seven minutes to go to give the team its first score with 6:02 left (!) in the game. Holy moly. The Bucks immediately went on a 6-0 run, including an Amen Thompson flagrant two foul on Giannis. Then the game turned into a rock fight for the last few minutes and the Bucks just frittered away multiple great opportunities. Kuz had a bad turnover, a blown transition layup, and a missed open three. Then Giannis confusingly fouled Şengün down one with 30 seconds on the clock to gift the Rockets a three-point lead. That three-point lead was very notable because with about seven seconds left, Dame shot a half-court attempt knowing that the Rockets were trying to foul up three and the refs refused to give him three shots! Just one of the worst refereeing decisions I’ve seen, personally. Then the plot thickened once again, with Giannis and Şengün both called for a lane violation on a Dame free throw, leading to a jump ball at centre court where Dame got an open look to tie it, but missed. Bucks lose.

Stat That Stood Out​

Both teams turned the ball over quite a bit; the Bucks had 13 and the Rockets had 15. But it was offensive rebounding that killed Milwaukee, giving up a total of 16, with six of them coming in the final frame.

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Source: https://www.brewhoop.com/2025/2/25/...nnis-damian-lillard-jalen-green-amen-thompson