Bucks Stock Market: Milwaukee moves out of the play-in with a big win over Detroit.
The Bucks sweep their five-game homestand and suddenly find themselves not too far from the top of the East.
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.
Perspective is a funny thing. The Milwaukee Bucks beatdown of the Detroit Pistons was an expected outcome, and because of it the Bucks improved to 11-8 and took sole ownership of the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed. This is basically seen as a stepping stone for the Bucks on their way to the top of the conference and another deep playoff run, and rightfully so, for that matter. There’s no need to pretend this Bucks team equipped with a generational superstar doesn’t have higher expectations than their current standing, but it is illuminating to look back before the Mike Budenholzer era to put their struggle into perspective.
Milwaukee’s winning percentage is .579 so far. That’s a disappointment to the Bud-era Bucks, who have never finished a season with a sub-60 winning percentage, but do you know the last time pre-Bud the Bucks finished a season winning at least 57% of their games?
2001. That’s right — even though it’s been largely disappointing, this is the fourth-best Bucks season of the last two decades.
If you know me at all, you know this is not me saying the team is beyond reproach or trying to sell you on this being a great season so far. It’s been largely tough sledding, mostly because of injuries, but still not an ideal start to the title defense.
But don’t take even the expected wins for granted. For a long time the only thing we expected from the Bucks was for them to suck. Enjoy every possible second of the Giannis Antetokounmpo experience, folks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo📈
Speaking of Giannis, he seemed gassed for most of this game, which is just a thing that happens when you spend more than a month carrying a team to the extent Giannis has. Thankfully for the Bucks, gassed Giannis is still capable of posting 33 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and shooting 70% from the field and 80% from the charity stripe. Giannis scored whenever he wanted and ensured the Pistons never actually got the lead even when they scrapped close to it around the middle of the game.
Jrue Holiday📈
Two good Jrue Holiday games in a row is something I am very thankful for. Jrue finished with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and a block while posting 50/43/100 shooting splits against Detroit. Shots of all varieties were falling, which is a great sign after some of Jrue’s earlier struggles on the offensive end. I never lost faith after seeing him come through just enough in the championship run, but that doesn’t make this result less relieving.
George Hill📈
George Hill was 2/5 from the field and 0/2 from three, so how does he end up with an upstock here you may ask. I will answer: he’s connective tissue on so many Bucks possessions on both ends that enables a lot of great outcomes. Whether it’s snagging a rebound (he had four offensive boards!) and finding a cutter, flying in out of nowhere to prevent an open shot, or prodding enough with the ball to open up a shot three passes away, Hill is clearly a positive for Milwaukee. He was asked to do too much earlier in the season — with all of Giannis, Khris, and Jrue healthy, Hill is slotting in perfectly.
Bobby Portis📈
The people’s champ! Bobby Portis added another double-double to extend his streak to four games, posting 28 points, 10 rebounds and an assist in the win. His scoring in the fourth quarter in particular was huge, but Bobby finds a way to make every bucket seem massive — making 10/14 shots and 6/7 threes helps with that. Bobby Beast Mode seems here to stay as long as the Bucks need him, which simply rules. There’s still nobody who gets Fiserv more amped.
Grayson Allen 📉
Grayson picked a good time to have what was probably his worst game as a Buck so far. He made just 1 of his 6 shots and wasn’t as engaged as usual defensively either. It feels like it’s taking Allen a while to get used to playing with all of Giannis, Khris, and Jrue healthy, which makes sense considering this was only the seventh game they’ve all been healthy this season. I’m pretty confident Grayson will be earning this one back sooner rather than later though, as he’s proven he’s got real talent already.
The Bucks kick off a brief two-game road trip in Denver on Friday. Playing in Denver is notoriously difficult, but the Nuggets are pretty banged up, so there’s a chance Milwaukee can keep its winning streak alive.