Bucks Zone

AJ Green shows out in the Milwaukee Bucks’ one-sided loss to the Minnesota Wolves

AJ stepped up big time for the short-handed Bucks.
Matthew Dugandzic|
© Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

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Milwaukee Bucks

People call him “AJ Automatic” and AJ Green showed why when he put on an impressive shooting display in the Milwaukee Bucks’ 105-129 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.

Green was superb in the loss, firing a career-high 27 points built on a stellar 7-for-8 shooting night from three-point range. The second-year undrafted player also had three assists and two rebounds in 21 minutes of playing time.

Doc Rivers was impressed with Green’s performance, which he said was a product of hard work.

“He works. Our young guys all work, they really do. They put in the time,” said Rivers.

It was Green’s 31st game in the season, and in all of those games, he came off the bench. He is only averaging 8.1 minutes and is submitting 3.5 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game.

AJ is on a roll

Green also earned praise from Rivers when he put up 10 points and five rebounds in Milwaukee’s 108-123 loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday night.

Rivers said for bench players like Green to put up the kind of performance that he showed against the Wolves reveals his character as a player.

“I’ve coached a long time, and I played a thousand years ago. I’ve never set, I’ve never had to do what they have to do, and I’m very sensitive towards it. Early in my coaching career, I didn’t…I wasn’t because I’ve always played when I was a player, and for guys to come to practice every day and pretty much know they’re not going to play and still stay ready, it’s hard to do, and it shows a lot of character and all our young guys are doing that,” said Rivers.

Stepping up for injured teammates

Green played 22 minutes in the loss, a significant playing he earned with Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton sitting out due to sprained ankles.

The Bucks heavily felt the absence of Dame and Khris as they trailed by as many as 28 points. The story could have been different if the two certified scorers were around, Rivers said.

“This was going to be a tough one if we were not injured,” Rivers said.

Aside from injuries, Doc also blamed the demanding schedule that the Bucks have to go through as they fell to 1-5 under him.

“We just came back from sleep patterns, and I’ve never seen just the flights that they had us. Time change, coming back, back-to-backs, insane. Having said that, no one will feel sorry for you; you go through this,” said Rivers.

Doc said that he even thought of resting his key players after the tough five-game road and the team scheduled to play two games in two nights. The loss to Minnesota was MIlwaukee’s third-straight defeat, and they will try to snap the skid when they play the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night.

“Hopefully, we’ll be better tomorrow, and hopefully we get our guys back tomorrow,” Rivers said.

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.