Bucks Stock Market: The again-depleted Milwaukee Bucks run out of gas in Boston.
Milwaukee was able to push the Celtics to overtime without Giannis, Khris, and Brook, but couldn't get the win.
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.
All throughout the four regulation quarters I was able to convince myself that Friday night’s Bucks versus Celtics game was house money for Milwaukee. It kind of was: Giannis Antetokounmpo was scratched with an ankle injury (he doesn’t seem too bothered by it, though) and Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, and Donte DiVincenzo all remained out as well. The game was mostly fun, with the Bucks finding ways to stick around against Dennis Schroder randomly being a supernova on offense, and Milwaukee even forced OT on a clutch Grayson Allen basket before running out of gas and losing 122-113. I still had a sour taste in my mouth at the way it ended, house money be damned: the Celtics got Bobby Portis switched onto Jayson Tatum and Schroder over and over and over, and try as he might Portis couldn’t get enough stops to get the win. Please get healthy, Bucks.
Jrue Holiday 📉
Jrue Holiday’s one made three was a cool moment, reminiscent of the championship run where he was cold for so long but got hot enough at the right times to win. That ended up not being the case in Boston, as Jrue missed 11 of his 12 attempted threes, 19 of his 25 attempted shots, and overall seemed to be trying too hard, although he did record 13 assists and 3 steals too. Jrue’s belief in his own jumper is admirable, but if he needs to take a possession off it’d be better to simply let Grayson Allen, George Hill, or even Jordan Nwora run the possession rather than settling for an early clock step-back three on a night when he’s ice cold.
Milwaukee’s got one more game left on this road trip, and it’ll determine whether it’s a winning or losing trip. The Bucks take on the disappointing Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night at 5 pm.