Bucks

2023 - 3 - 20

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Image courtesy of "Forbes"

Seven Big Questions For Milwaukee Bucks Stretch Run (Forbes)

The Milwaukee Bucks are at the top of an ever-tightening Eastern Conference playoff race. At 51-20 and with only 11 games remaining, they lead the Boston ...

Milwaukee’s lead was dangling over the weekend when they were only 1.5 games ahead of Boston and 2.5 ahead of Philadelphia at one point. The Bucks aren’t focused on winning individual awards at this point in the season. Their teammates publicly lobby for each other to deserve the awards, and they certainly are, but who cares? They must still play the Spurs, Jazz, Pistons, Pacers, Wizards, Bulls, and Raptors. Their halfcourt defense is extremely difficult to score against, and giving opponents easy opportunities in the open court would be counterproductive. Since January 16th, Milwaukee has the fifth-best offensive rating in the NBA, also posting the highest effective field goal percentage in that span. That allowed him to stay on the court in past postseason runs. He’s struggled shooting the rock this season, knocking down only 33.6 percent of his threes and posting his lowest effective field goal percentage since his rookie year. They also rank second in the NBA in travels per 100 possessions. They need to continue building positive habits with the ball in their hands. At 51-20 and with only 11 games remaining, they lead the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers by 2.5 games. Here are seven big questions that will determine how effective they’re functioning down the stretch.

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Image courtesy of "The Athletic"

Bucks' Brook Lopez doing everything everywhere all at once in win ... (The Athletic)

Lopez showed his offensive repertoire against the Raptors on Sunday. It could be a glimpse into how the Bucks' offense in the playoffs.

Nick Nurse and the Raptors are seen as the originators of the “wall” defensive strategy against Antetokounmpo, so what they saw on Sunday will be similar to what the Bucks see from most teams in the playoffs. When Antetokounmpo catches the ball on the right wing, Lopez knows that the best way to puncture the Raptors’ help defense and give Antetokounmpo an option is by cutting to the front of the rim and occupying help defenders. On Sunday, the Raptors showed the Bucks multiple defensive strategies they are going to see in the postseason. [Grayson Allen](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/grayson-allen-E9IF6RRaReZhPxGS/) to set a double ball screen at the top of the key for [Khris Middleton](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/khris-middleton-16EsAhBpQ9MB2dEC/). When Antetokounmpo attacks the double team with a baseline drive, Lopez reads the situation perfectly and cuts in a clockwise direction to give Antetokounmpo a passing option on his drive. With the Bucks up by only two, Budenholzer put Antetokounmpo and Lopez together in the two-man game. In the fourth quarter alone, Lopez (17 points) outscored the Raptors as a team (16 points) and came up huge to help the Bucks seal a victory. And he didn’t do it from the block, as he might have done in his second season with the Bucks. The Raptors pressure opponents relentlessly on the defensive end with a physical and demanding style in an effort to force turnovers and get out on the run. As Middleton threw him the ball and then tried to get open for a dribble handoff, Lopez decided to keep it himself. Allen read it perfectly and set a strong screen on [Will Barton](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/will-barton-4Jzk3ONiv7GocIOJ/) that allowed Middleton to get past the top two defenders and set up a two-on-one situation for the Bucks at the rim. That continued in his third season and Lopez came up huge for the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals with a few throwback efforts when Antetokounmpo missed time with his left knee injury.

Bucks' Brook Lopez: Erupts for 26 points in win (CBSSports.com)

Lopez finished with 26 points (9-15 FG, 1-6 3Pt, 7-7 FT), five rebounds, two assists and two blocks across 31 minutes in Sunday's 118-111 win over the ...

Even if his offensive production cools, Lopez should still be a useful lineup option for fantasy managers thanks to his immense production as a shot blocker. On a night in which Milwaukee had all of its regular starters available, Lopez finished as the [Bucks](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/MIL/milwaukee-bucks/)' surprise scoring leader, inching out both Giannis Antetokounmpo (22 points) and Khris Middleton (20 points).

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Image courtesy of "WSAU News"

Bucks Top Raptors (WSAU News)

MILWAUKEE, WI (WSAU) -- The Milwaukee Bucks locked down on defense in the fourth quarter and beat the Raptors ...

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Image courtesy of "WTMJ"

Bucks Weekly | AmperWave Player (WTMJ)

Why do the 76ers and Celtics keep winning?! Audio is then played from an interview between Gale Klappa and new Bucks forward Jae Crowder. Bulls double-OT wraps ...

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Image courtesy of "WMTV - NBC15"

Antetokounmpo, Lopez lead Bucks past Raptors, 118-111 (WMTV - NBC15)

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Brook Lopez's outburst to start the fourth quarter was key.

We just kind of lost our rim protection, and then kicked out and made a couple 3s after we kind of got that fixed. “In those stretches, they kind of got a couple of at the rim ... hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Raptors up 83-76 with just under 4 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. “We settled down, we got back in control,” said Lopez, who outscored Toronto 17-16 in the fourth quarter. “It changed the game,” Budenholzer said. Khris Middleton added 20 points and Bobby Portis had 14 as the Bucks improved to an NBA-best 51-20.

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Image courtesy of "Brew Hoop"

Milwaukee vs. Toronto: Bucks Surge Past Raptors, 118-111 (Brew Hoop)

Milwaukee would get back to their winning ways, locking down a 118-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors Sunday evening at Fiserv Forum.

In the fourth, they’d allow just 16, which was more than enough for them to secure the victory. Turnovers would continue to be a problem for the Bucks in the third. In the first quarter, the Bucks coughed the ball up four times. The primary court continues to have repair work done. If Milwaukee wins that, it’ll be their first season series sweep of the Raptors since 2012-13. All night long, the Raptors were pests on the defensive end, forcing Milwaukee to cough up the basketball. The Bucks shot the ball well in the first quarter, especially from deep. Toronto would hover around, but never re-gain the composure necessary to hop back in front. You can tell just how much he means to his teammates by just simply being out there on the floor and how his presence impacts opposing players. Toronto continued to capitalize on the times where Milwaukee was unable to facilitate things, staying in front for a majority of the quarter. That’s only the 13th time that’s happened. Toronto rattled off an 13-3 run to begin the second, which flip-flopped things their way early on.

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Image courtesy of "Sports Illustrated"

Brook Lopez erupts in fourth, powers the Milwaukee Bucks over the ... (Sports Illustrated)

Lopez dropped a game-high 26 points, and 17 of them came in the final quarter, where he single-handedly outscored the entire Toronto squad, which just managed ...

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Image courtesy of "Behind The Bucks Pass"

Brook Lopez's masterful fourth quarter leads the Bucks past Raptors (Behind The Bucks Pass)

After dropping a game against the Indiana Pacers in their previous contest, the Milwaukee Bucks needed to bounce back against the Toronto Raptors.

Lopez’s 17 points were more than the Raptors scored in the period in total (16). Lopez sealed this game with yet another layup and two additional free throws in the final few minutes to help the Bucks get their 51st win of the season. After recording a steal and a block, Lopez once again went to the free throw line and sunk a pair to put the Bucks up six. As the Bucks led by two with under four minutes to play, Lopez hit another tough shot inside, which resulted in his third and-one of the period. For three quarters, the Bucks and Raptors went back and forth as they consistently exchanged the lead. Two possessions later, Lopez authoritatively took it inside once again, which resulted in another and-one to tie the game at 95.

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Image courtesy of "Fox Sports 1070 The Game"

Clutch Baskets From Lopez Lead Bucks Past Raptors 118-111 (Fox Sports 1070 The Game)

Brook Lopez scored 17 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 118-111 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.

Lopez scored eight straight points to give the Bucks a 97-95 lead. The Bucks were down 95-89 heading into the fourth quarter. Milwaukee record stands at 51-20.

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Image courtesy of "Taipei Times"

Shook-up Bucks bounce back to down the Raptors (Taipei Times)

Giannis Antetokounmpo on Sunday bagged a triple-double and Brook Lopez delivered a huge fourth quarter as the Milwaukee Bucks returned to winning ways with ...

The celebration has become a smash hit during Japan’s games in Tokyo, with Nootbaar’s teammates jumping on the bandwagon and fans bringing pepper grinders to the stadium. The 25-year-old outfielder — the first player born outside Japan to represent the country at the tournament — mimics twisting a pepper mill after each hit to show he wants to “grind out” a win for his team. The win boosts Oklahoma City’s playoff hopes, with the Thunder improving to 35-36 in the Western Conference for eighth place. In the three times the two superstars faced each other prior to Saturday, Tai, 22, had only come out on top once, when It looked as if history might repeat itself on Sunday when the Magic closed to 101-101 with 2 minutes, 39 seconds remaining, but Reaves took over by rattling in his team’s final 10 points to secure a win which lifted the Lakers into the play-in positions. It’s all about how we approach the game — if we’re locked in to what we need to do I feel like we’ve got the firepower to be one of the best teams in the league.”

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