Bucks Stock Market: Milwaukee survives the Donte DiVincenzo revenge game
The Bucks outlasted the Kings 135-126 in what became a thriller in Sacramento.
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.
Milwaukee Bucks fans who stayed up late to watch their team play the lowly Kings in Sacramento got treated to a surprisingly intense finish, as despite Milwaukee finally winning a third quarter (by a whopping 2 points) the Kings nearly stole the victory due to some clutch shot-making by De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and company. Thankfully Wes Matthews had an arrow to fire and a few steals to nab in the waning minutes, and the Bucks withstood Donte DiVincenzo going for 19 points to grab another win. More important than any of this stuff: Brook Lopez continues to look pretty damn good in his second game back, and despite picking up several fouls again it seems like he is on pace to be his usual productive self in the playoffs.
Wes Matthews 📈
Knock on all the wood you can find, but after his brutal shooting slump to start 2022 Wes Matthews has now strung together back-to-back games with multiple made threes after not hitting more than 1 in a single game since January 13. In addition to his 8 points Matthews provided 6 rebounds (3 of them on the offensive glass), 2 assists, 3 steals and a turnover in his minutes. Two of the steals came in the final minutes, as Wes proved why Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer has trusted him despite the slump.
Khris Middleton 📈
Khris Middleton is Great. After throwing a pair of ugly passes early Khris decided to just shoot every time instead, and that turned out to be a great decision as he totaled 32 points on 10/20 shooting including a scorching 7/10 from deep. Saying he shot every time is admittedly hyperbole though, as Khris also added 8 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block. Every time the Kings started to go on a run, there was Khris hitting a huge shot in somebody’s face to keep the Bucks either in the lead or right in the mix.
Serge Ibaka 📈
With Brook Lopez back in the fold Serge Ibaka is losing some playing time (and will likely lose more as Lopez knocks the rust off) but Serge is finding ways to be effective anyway. The lesser load may actually be optimal for him at this stage in his career, honestly. Ibaka put up 8 points and 2 rebounds on 4/6 shooting and continues to offer solid boxing out and rebounding, even if the Kings were able to make shots over him from time to time. Serge may end up only playing against certain teams in the playoffs, and it’s hard to ask for more from a situational big man than what he has provided the Bucks so far.
The Bucks are back in action on Saturday as they wrap up their road trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Note that the tip time is a weird one — the game begins at 4 pm Central.