MILWAUKEE — With Giannis Antetokounmpo scratched from the lineup with left hamstring tendinopathy 40 minutes earlier than Sunday’s sport in opposition to the Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers knew his workforce wanted to discover a completely different option to rating effectively. In the event that they had been going to have the ability to put collectively a robust offensive sport although, the blueprint needed to be easy.
“Earlier than the sport, we checked out who can rating for us, like who can get us buckets, and actually, it was Khris (Middleton), Bobby (Portis), Dame (Lillard). and all people else would rating off of these guys,” Rivers mentioned after the sport. “And I assumed all these guys did their jobs. And never solely scoring but additionally transferring the ball.”
Behind the offensive effort of these three gamers, the Bucks put collectively a 140-129 win over the Suns, their highest-scoring effort with Rivers as head coach, to maneuver to 44-24 on the season. Lillard tallied 31 factors, 4 rebounds and 16 assists, which was the primary 30-point, 15-assist sport in Bucks franchise historical past. Portis scored 31 factors and added 10 rebounds as effectively, whereas Middleton put up 22 factors and 7 assists in 26 minutes in his first motion since Feb. 6.
Whereas all three gamers had been spectacular on Sunday, all the pieces began with Lillard’s level guard play. Whereas that was the primary 30-point, 15-assist sport in Bucks franchise historical past, it was the fourth such outing for Lillard and the fifth sport of his profession wherein he recorded 15 or extra assists.
For years, Lillard has been identified for his scoring prowess, however after Sunday’s sport, he revealed that the video games wherein he information excessive help totals are sometimes a product of his mindset as a scorer.
“I all the time assault to attain,” Lillard mentioned. “And when the protection comes off of the nook because the low man to remove the rim, then I simply make that cross.”
On Sunday, the Suns made it a precedence to ship assist defenders when Lillard attacked. These crowds round Lillard meant teammates had been open all sport lengthy.
With Kevin Durant switched onto him and Jusuf Nurkić, Lillard’s former pick-and-roll associate in Portland, close to the 3-point line to defend Lillard within the pick-and-roll on this first-quarter play, the Bucks level guard threw a phenomenal pocket cross to heart Brook Lopez.
As soon as Portis entered for Lopez halfway by way of the primary quarter, Lillard labored a simple two-man sport with Portis the place he leveraged his off-the-dribble risk as a scorer and created a wide-open 3 for the Bucks’ sixth man.
With Lillard manipulating defenders within the pick-and-roll and discovering his pick-and-roll companions for simple buckets with simply two males on the ball, the Suns began displaying much more assist in the primary quarter. Somewhat than trusting Grayson Allen and Drew Eubanks to close down the Bucks’ pick-and-roll, the Suns despatched a 3rd defender and left Patrick Beverley alone on the proper wing.
Lillard held all three defenders in the midst of the ground after which whipped a cross out to Beverley.
Nothing Lillard did on that play ended up on the stat sheet, however his capacity to attract further consideration from the protection opened a driving lane for Beverley, which led to an open 3 from the left wing for Portis.
“He was simply, I feel, selecting them aside, actually,” Middleton mentioned of Lillard’s playmaking. “Largely simply seeing the group that he was attracting and simply getting it off early. He trusted the fellows on the market to make the performs and hit the photographs for him. However I feel he did an excellent job of selecting and selecting when to assault that large off the double-team, after which additionally simply figuring out when to get off of it and never forcing issues an excessive amount of.”
Lillard assisted on every of Portis’ first three buckets and Lillard’s unselfishness as a playmaker within the first quarter helped Portis discover an early rhythm in Sunday’s sport, which ended being vital as Portis put collectively an enormous first half.
In simply 13 first-half minutes, Portis scored 25 factors and helped the Bucks construct a 22-point halftime lead.
“Everyone knows that he’s a scorer and he can he can fill it up,” Lillard mentioned. “If he will get going, he can actually get going and alter the sport. So, he made his first couple of photographs and I feel simply as a workforce we noticed it and we simply feed him. Any time he had an inch or if he was the subsequent man, even when he was coated, we had been throwing him the ball and he simply saved it rolling and saved it rolling.“
After Lillard helped get Portis going within the first quarter, Middleton saved him rolling within the second quarter.
As he returned to motion for the primary time since struggling a left ankle sprain on Feb. 6 in Phoenix, Middleton solely performed 26 minutes on Sunday due to a minutes restriction, he was impactful for the Bucks.
“Khris Middleton, I inform you, for a man that missed that many video games, to look that good was fairly spectacular,” Rivers mentioned.
After lacking 16 video games, Middleton largely seemed like himself. At instances, he scored in isolation, together with 90 seconds within the third quarter the place he scored six straight factors for the Bucks. Different instances, he created for his teammates equivalent to he did for Portis. However whether or not he was attempting to attain or create for others, Middleton was in management and that stood out to Rivers.
In his postgame media session, Rivers revealed that Middleton’s composure and intelligence stood out to him on a second-half possession the place Middleton introduced the ball up the ground and known as one of many workforce’s favourite offensive units earlier than Rivers even had an opportunity to instruct from the sidelines.
“It’s good, I’m telling you,” Rivers mentioned. “Whenever you’re a coach and you’ve got a man that may run down and name one in every of your units, that you simply in all probability had been going to name, and get guys organized, man, it’s a luxurious.”
In the long run, the trio of Lillard, Portis and Middleton outscored the Suns star trio of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Durant by 22 factors, 84-62. However it wasn’t simply the trio’s scoring. With Lillard and Middleton working the present on Sunday, the ball saved transferring all through the sport and the Bucks hit a season-high 24 3-pointers as a workforce.
With out Antetokounmpo on the ground, the Bucks stepped up and gained. Rivers steered that there isn’t a long-term concern with the left hamstring tendinopathy that saved Antetokounmpo out. Rivers felt Sunday was an excellent day to get Antetokounmpo some relaxation, contemplating the Bucks celebrity ahead has recurrently proven up on the Bucks’ harm report over the previous few months with varied illnesses.
“It’s not an harm,” Rivers mentioned. “We’re simply involved a bit of bit. Plus, in the event you have a look at the schedule, you may have one, two, three, 4, 5 days off. So we planted it in him and he needed to do it, which we had been comfortable he determined to do it.
Despite the fact that it’s only a regular-season sport, the Bucks need Antetokounmpo on the ground Wednesday as they tackle the Japanese Convention’s top-seeded Celtics in Boston. And now, due to the trio of Lillard, Portis and Middleton, the Bucks have given Antetokounmpo 5 days of relaxation and never misplaced any floor within the standings.
(Photograph of Grayson Allen and Damian Lillard: Patrick McDermott / Getty Pictures)
