© Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
What we learned from the Milwaukee Bucks' blowout win over the Denver Nuggets
The Milwaukee Bucks took care of business at the Fiserv Forum, as they handed the reigning NBA champions Denver Nuggets a 112-95 beatdown on Monday night. Here are two things to take away from the morale-boosting win.
Headed in the right direction
Things haven’t gone as well as the Bucks had hoped when they picked Doc Rivers as the team’s new head coach, replacing Adrian Griffin. Before wins over Charlotte and Denver, Milwaukee had gone 1-6. However, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo shared that he’s seeing progress over the last few weeks, which is better than racking up wins but not really grasping lessons in the process.
“It feels good. I’ve said this, me personally, I don’t care, I don’t mind if we stack two in a row, if we stack five in a row, if we stack 10 in a row, like, it’s nothing to me. I just love when the team is headed towards the right direction, and I feel as a team we’re doing that.” Giannis, who had an awesome performance of 36 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks, said.
Made things tough for Nikola Jokic
Nikola Jokic is a two-time MVP for a reason. He’s good enough to take on whatever defensive coverage comes his way and still find ways to score. But in the game against the Bucks, he was again made to work for his points. Although the Serbian sensation still finished with 29 points on 13-of-25 shooting, Bucks center Brook Lopez stood tall and held his own.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of players that can guard Jokic one-on-one in the league. And Brook, there was a lot of possessions that he did that. He just makes it as tough as possible. He can take that bump. Not a lot of people can take that bump down low and then still contest the shot. He’s able to do that,” Giannis added.
