Bucks Stock Market: Memphis barbecues the Bucks

I hope Milwaukee fans were out enjoying their Saturday nights and not watching this beatdown.

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.

It was nice seeing Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo suit up after sitting out the last game (the last two games in Khris’ case). That about sums up the positives from the Milwaukee Bucks game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, as the Bucks got absolutely blown out in Memphis despite Ja Morant not playing. In fairness the Bucks were down their star point guard as well as Jrue Holiday also sat out, but holy moly did the Grizzlies not miss a beat and roll after the first several minutes (which were actually pretty close).

Bobby Portis 📉

Bobby Portis was a train wreck against the Grizzlies. The Bucks needed a lot of minutes from him with Serge Ibaka a late scratch with a non-COVID illness and Brook Lopez still not playing major minutes, and he got bullied by the physical Grizzlies all night long. Steven Adams dominated him on the glass, and Memphis managed to hold Bobby to a brutal 2/13 shooting night. Games like this are why it’s nice to have an emergency center option in Ibaka, so it’s tough he wasn’t able to soak up some of these minutes.

Khris Middleton 📉

With Jrue not playing, it was apparent the Bucks needed a big night from Khris Middleton. Early on it seemed like they would get it, but Khris quickly went into ghost mode and barely had an impact on the game outside of the first half of the first quarter. In total he scored 16 points on 5/16 shooting and had as many turnovers as he did assists (5). After a hot stretch following the All-Star Break, this was a bummer performance from Khris.

Jevon Carter 📈

The one bright spot besides Giannis and Khris playing was Jevon Carter continuing to look like a hidden gem. George Hill barely dodged a downstock after not doing anything in the first half, and the Bucks had a much different energy in Carter’s minutes. At this point the suffocating defense is expected, but Carter’s shot-making has been exceptional after he started his Bucks tenure ice cold from within the arc. Carter put up 9 points on 4/5 shooting and made his lone three-pointer, while also providing 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 rebound, and just 1 turnover. His shot-making off the dribble and off the catch has been eye-opening, and we’re reaching a point where it’s not going to be possible to exclude him from the playoff rotation.

The Bucks are back in action on Tuesday when they start a big week of Eastern Conference showdowns against the Philadelphia 76ers at 6 pm Central.