Bucks Zone

The 3 key takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks' loss versus the Houston Rockets

The inspired play of the young Rockets was too much for the Bucks to handle.

Matthew Dugandzic

© Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
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The Milwaukee Bucks got their four-game winning streak snapped last night as they lost to the Houston Rockets 97-92 on the road. It was just a bad night for the Bucks, as they fell to 19-7 on the season, missing the opportunity to get closer to the #1 seed in the East. Here are the 3 key takeaways from the game.

Playing for their coach

The Rockets went into this battle motivated, as their head coach Stephen Silas wasn't there with the news of his father and NBA legend Paul Silas passing away earlier in the day. John Lucas stepped into the coaching role and got his young guns fired up to take down the mighty Bucks.

The second-year guard Jalen Green showed out and proved why he is one of the brightest young stars in the game, leading all scorers with 30 points, all while sealing the win with his composure in the final few minutes. 

Not your usual Giannis game

Giannis Antetokounmpo probably had his worst game of the season, ending with a humble stat line for his MVP standards. The Greek Freak scored 16 points (7-17 FG, 2-6 FT), along with 18 rebounds and 4 assists.

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Giannis was struggling on the offensive end of the floor, as was most of the team. Antetokounmpo simply couldn't get it going from outside or mid-range, and the lane was pretty well defended, with Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. doing an admirable job of containing Giannis. The Bucks superstar did have a great defensive game, also grabbing a season-high in rebounds. But the lack of offensive production proved to be fatal in this loss.

Jrue Holiday picked up the slack, notching 25 points with 8 assists and 6 rebounds, but the point guard was one of the rare Bucks player feeling it tonight.

Poor shooting night

The Bucks only allowed 97 points, which is amazing for today's NBA, but they couldn't take advantage of it on the other end of the floor. Milwaukee was firing away from deep, but it simply wasn't going down, shooting only 27.9% (12-43 3PT). Mike Budenholzer talked about it after the game.

“We didn’t shoot it well enough tonight,” coach Budenholzer said. “We got a lot 3s up. We like that. We think that’s good. Overall, we think that’s going to be good for us in the long run, but tonight, we weren’t able to make enough 3s to take away their willingness to put multiple bodies and people in the paint.”

Brook Lopez (1-4), Grayson Allen (2-9), Pat Connaughton (1-6), and Bobby Portis Jr. (1-5) usually take the Bucks to another dimension with their hot shooting to complement the stars, but tonight they simply weren't knocking them down.

What's next

The Bucks are heading home to get set and host the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday in a must-watch battle between Giannis and Stephen Curry.

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.