Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks looked to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers for their first victory under their new coach after losing in Denver on Monday. There was an aura of expectation in the build-up because it was Damian Lillard’s first game in Portland since his trade to Milwaukee. Unfortunately, Portland’s 119-116 victory spoiled the comeback. Dame scored 25 points with six rebounds and seven assists in response to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led the Bucks with 27 points.
Milwaukee had a difficult start to the game as the Bucks fell behind early on. However, Lillard, Khris Middleton, and Giannis were able to rally the team and take an early lead that they would maintain throughout the first half. Making two of his shots in the first quarter, Brook Lopez kept up his impressive three-point shooting. Milwaukee would eventually lead by eight points, but after a quarter, an 11-4 Portland surge to end the quarter reduced Milwaukee’s lead to just 38-37.
The offensive heat from the first kept up for both teams into the first half of the second quarter, trading baskets and the lead seven times in the quarter. Things would eventually cool, but it was Portland who came out of mid-quarter timeout with the crisper execution on their way to a slight 65-67 lead at the half.
Milwaukee got a fast start in the third quarter on the backs of Giannis and Lillard, but the burst was brief and Portland methodically reeled back in. The three ball went missing for the Bucks, forcing the offense to resort to tougher interior buckets to maintain pace — gradually increasing the execution challenges that would hamstring the team down the line. Khris Middleton’s seven third quarter points kept things respectable, although Portland regularly found answering shots that would gradually add to their lead. While not at all being out of it, it was clear Milwaukee had given itself no choice but to try and grind out a result — with on-paper dominance MIA, they were down 91-96 after three.
Of course, the team then forgot about even rudimentary execution with the game on the line. The offense disappeared and six turnovers in roughly two minutes stepped into the void. Great.
Ranging from bad passes to Giannis’s old-reliable offensive fouls, Milwaukee opened the door for Portland to walk through on their way to a 10 point lead before Doc Rivers called time. Dame staunched the bleeding with a deep three to provide a spark, but there was no follow-through on either end of the floor. Opportunities to regain the lead were plentiful, although the Blazers neither made enough crucial mistakes nor did Milwaukee find the capability to bring an ugly road win home. Clutch time execution was left a bit wanting, although the deficit would drop to one on numerous occasions (and Milwaukee even briefly nabbed the lead late with a Dame-Giannis alley-oop). Anfernee Simons hit one more basket to get the score to 116-117, only for Milwaukee to follow-up by seeing Brook Lopez miss a late three and subsequently inbounding the ball to… Giannis? Who was intentionally fouled and would appropriately miss both free throws late on the way to defeat, 116-119
