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, racking up 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 scored 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, he ended up scoring 16 straight points for the Bucks (and did it in less than six minutes, no less). 16. Straight. Points. What an absolute psycho, man. And then for the rest of the quarter, I’ll be honest with you, neither team played a lick of defence (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.