Bucks Stock Market: Getting bullied by the Raptors

Milwaukee could not overcome Toronto's swarming defense in this matchup.

The Bucks Stock Market is a fictitious market run by the GSPN crew that tracks player stock “movement” following the conclusion of every game. Here’s the spreadsheet logging the game-by-game results.

Following Milwaukee’s emphatic win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, the Bucks played host to the Toronto Raptors on a chilly Sunday evening. The game got off to a fast Bucks start. Everything was falling for Milwaukee and their defense was tight. However, as the game went on, the Raptors kept making up ground and using their physical play style to disrupt whatever the Bucks were trying to do on both ends of the court. Still without Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee was unable to break through and get the win. Let’s get into the movements.

Grayson Allen📈

Yeah, he’s back. Remember how I mentioned how the Bucks got off to a hot start? gRAYson Allen was the catalyst for it. He was hitting his shots, getting in good position, and holding his own defensively. As the game moved through the quarters, Allen shifted his game to being more of a slasher, as the Raptors were respecting his jumper and running him off the line. Grayson was whipping out passes, drawing contact, and providing necessary bounce for the Bucks.

Donte DiVincenzo📉

Let me peel back the curtain a bit. Ti has been chastising me for “saving” Donte by not giving him down stocks (even though we’ve established that we give a cushion once a player returns from injury, though Donte has gamed the system by just having sporadic injuries), but the down stock has finally arrived. For the majority of this game, I was just wondering what Donte was trying to do on the basketball court. The play was just sloppy: unforced turnovers mixed with weird offensive position. He did have some defensive highlights, including a great block in semi-transition, but that does not make up for a plethora of mistakes.

Jordan Nwora📉

It’s almost impressive how fast he earned this down stock. He only played 4:40, but it was clear that this was earned. He took zero shots (which is almost impressive for Nwora) and was just a turnstile on defense. Jordan clearly did not understand what the defensive scheme was tonight, as Mike Budenholzer took him out as soon as realistically possible after a string of botched possessions.

The Milwaukee Bucks will have the privilege of having their next game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, taking on the Atlanta Hawks at 5:00pm central.