SAN ANTONIO — The Milwaukee Bucks played their second straight game without stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday — and lost Grayson Allen early on — and lost 111-93 to the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center on Friday.
Here are some takeaways from the game in San Antonio:
Dollars are running out of gas
Two nights after a double-overtime game at Oklahoma City where six players played at least 30 minutes and Brook Lopez (46) and Jevon Carter (45) jumped well past 40, the shorthanded Bucks didn’t have it all. just not enough to run with the rebuilding Spurs to the finish.
Mike Budenholzer credited Spurs for their defensive pressure and added: “We kind of wore ourselves out and they were better for longer periods than us.”
The Bucks fell behind until 21 midway through the third quarter, a point where Budenholzer acknowledged it might not be his team’s night. But, the Bucks rallied to cut it to 81-74 with less than a minute left in the frame behind Carter (21 points, 6 assists), Lopez (19 points, 2 blocks) and Bobby Portis (16 points, 12 bounces).
But to open the fourth, the Bucks missed six straight shots and had two turnovers and the Spurs had just enough shots.
“Thank you to our players,” Budenholzer said. “They really fought. We actually won the third quarter by one point, cutting it down to seven. We had to start that fourth quarter and maybe a score. I feel like they started on a 6-0 to start the quarter, or 7-0 run, and we were just back in the hole and just didn’t have enough and they were better.”
Regarding not having the Big Three in the last two games, Lopez said: “It’s good for us without Giannis, Khris and Jrue to go out there and get a lot of reps against different things. These last two games have been a great experience for us. . We have certainly learned a lot.”
The score of the box:Spurs 111, dollars 93
The Bucks aren’t a team that’s just going to pack – not with a roster full of veterans – but they just haven’t played well, plus they have to work really hard to generate offense without as many playmakers. They shot a dismal 27.9% from behind the three-point line and just 33% overall. They also flipped it 13 times.
“We just lost the game, man,” Portis said. “We fought in that third quarter, we got it down to seven points, down from 21 at one point, to seven points and…they started again and we couldn’t finish the game from From there. Just basketball. One of those games where you don’t make shots and get enough saves to win.
Milwaukee is now 10-2 this season and San Antonio improved to 6-7.
The first quarter sets a strange tone
San Antonio took a 31-27 lead after a quarter, which started oddly with Allen’s absence and was quickly followed with Brook Lopez being given a late game penalty for not be ready for the opening ball. Lopez just shook her head in disbelief.
“I don’t know what’s happening with the delay of games to start games,” Budenholzer said. “It must be some kind of NBA; trying to clean something up. I’ll leave it at that.”
Lopez was equally stunned.
“I came out about two seconds behind everyone – I couldn’t believe they called a game delay early on,” he said. “I don’t know. I guess the referees are working on stuff, finding stuff, trying to get better too. I don’t know.”
Milwaukee then turned it over four times in the first 2½ minutes – and six times in total – in the quarter. They were lucky that Wesley Matthews wasn’t hurt in the quarter either, as he fell on the television and still photographers under his basket and stayed down for a possession.
Then, with 2.5 seconds left in the period, the Bucks were hit with a second downtime after a George Hill free throw, resulting in a technical free throw for Spurs.
“There were a lot of weird things,” Lopez said. “Tons of trips (eight in the game). Game delays. Guess, again, the umpires are working to get better, hone their craft, call the calls, I guess the league wants them are calling. I don’t know.”
Grayson Allen misses game with illness for Bucks
Allen was dressed and in the locker room before the game, and was announced as the starter, but he did not take the field. Jordan Nwora fired the start instead. The Bucks said with just under five minutes left in the first quarter that Allen was doubtful to play after contracting a non-COVID illness, and at halftime he was ruled out.
Budenholzer said he saw Allen leave the team just before the whistleblower, but found out the guard wouldn’t be back until just before.
“It’s very, very unusual,” Budenholzer said. “Sometimes guys go to the locker room for a little second before the jump, but obviously it was more than that.”
Allen’s absence left the Bucks with 10 available players.
Nwora said it happened to him last year, when Rodney Hood fell ill just before tipping in a game against Indiana. On Friday, Nwora played 29 minutes but was 3 for 13 from the floor for eight points. He added seven rebounds and five assists.
Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to manage left knee pain
Antetokounmpo was ruled out for Friday’s game against Spurs with left knee pain, and it will be the second game in a row and the third in the last four games he has missed.
The first time it appeared that Antetokounmpo was feeling discomfort with his left knee was during pregame warmups against Detroit on Nov. 2 at Fiserv Forum. He played 29 minutes in the win over the Pistons, scoring 32 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
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The following day, he appeared on the injury report for the first time with knee pain. He played Nov. 4 at Minnesota, shooting just 7 of 17 for 26 points. He added 14 rebounds. He did not play the following night against Oklahoma City and returned to play 26 minutes against Atlanta on November 7. He was just 9 of 20 and several of his jumpers hit the front of the rim, and Hawks players jumped on him for offensive rebounds. on several occasions. He was then waived from the game against the Thunder on November 9.
Antetokounmpo was ruled out against Spurs early in the day on November 11, along with point guard Jrue Holiday (sprained right ankle) and cut short the road trip back to Milwaukee. Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game that Antetokounmpo’s situation had not changed.
In his first five games, Antetokounmpo shot 60.6% from the floor averaging 34.4 points in 34.6 minutes per game. In the four games played after the knee burst in this warm-up, he played 30.4 minutes per game and his shooting dropped to 46.4 percent while scoring 28.5 points.
five numbers
1-7: The Bucks record the last three seasons that none of the big three have played (including the regular season finale last year when Jrue Holiday checked in only for the opening tip to earn a contract bonus).
12: Blocked shots for Spurs, a best of the season.
37.9: Three-point percentage for Spurs when the starters were in the game (they were retired with 1:29 left). San Antonio entered the game as the league’s sixth-best three-point shooting team at 37.9%.
1979-80: The Bucks last started a season 10-1, which the Bucks did before the loss at San Antonio.
11,000/6,500: Career Points and Rebounds Bucks center Serge Ibaka reached in the game. Ibaka is in his 14e season.
Bucks injury report
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (left knee pain): Out
- Jrue Holiday (sprained right ankle): Out
- Khris Middleton (left wrist surgery): Out
- Pat Connaughton (right calf strain): Out
- Joe Ingles (left ACL): Out
- AJ Green (nasal fracture): Out
- Grayson Allen (non-COVID illness): Out
Who started for the Bucks?
The game of the game is the three starting points of Jevon Carter’s rally
For a moment, it looked like the Bucks could do it. Jordan Nwora missed a layup and Bobby Portis missed a return that led to a San Antonio three-pointer, then a block from a Jevon Carter drive led to another Spurs triple. and a 75-54 lead with 5:58 left in the third quarter. But after the Bucks called timeout, Carter came down and smoothly hit his own three-pointer.
The game itself wasn’t necessarily “highlight-worthy,” but rather indicative of the Bucks not being quite ready to go down without a fight. The three started a 20-6 streak that saw them cut the lead to seven with less than a minute left in the quarter and come back into the game.
The video of the game is the reunion of Marques Johnson and Paul Pressey
Former Bucks Marques Johnson and Paul Pressey sat down before the game to talk about their few years together under head coach Don Nelson from 1982 to 1984. The two were the first players considered ‘point forwards’ under Nelson. Pressey played in San Antonio from 1990 to 1992 and was recognized in the first quarter by the team.
Who do the Bucks play next?
Milwaukee returns home to face the Atlanta Hawks for the third time in their first 13 games, at 7 p.m. Monday at Fiserv Forum. The Bucks won the first meeting Oct. 29 in Milwaukee while the Hawks won 117-98 Nov. 7 in Atlanta, ending the Bucks’ franchise-best nine-game winning streak to start the season.
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