Before entering the tough part, the Bucks play to scare each other

Calendar of Bucks is very loose at the moment and they are using it to increase their win total, with four wins in five matches. The latest is the one with 17 points in Sacramento. The gap could (should) have been bigger as Milwaukee led by as many as 26 points in the third quarter.

But poor offensive selection, between questionable shots and turnovers, allowed the Kings to get back to just three points in nine minutes early in the final quarter.

“These are the matches we lost this season, by being in front and letting the opponent come back. But we learned from these matches, staying resilient and confident”, analyzed by Kevin Porter Jr. “If we want to go to the playoffs, we have to learn to keep the lead and play in that environment.”continues Miles Turner. “Especially outside, with a very present crowd. It’s good for us to experience this, at this stage of the season.”

An idea of maturity that isn’t enough for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who doesn’t want to see the glass half full.

And things are about to get tough…

“We shouldn’t be in this position. We were ahead by 26 points. We can’t let them get back to three points. We have to be better to finish this match. We have to look at the videos. However, I’m happy: we managed to keep our composure.” assures the Greek. “We have to grow up. No disrespect to the Kings, who beat us in the first game, but if it was a playoff game, we would have lost. In the playoffs, if we lose 25 points, we lose the game. We don’t want to be in this position.”

Before video analysis, how does the two-time MVP read this win?

“We didn’t play well in the third quarter and early in the fourth. We scored 62 points in the first period and finished with 115. We’ve got to continue to aim for 120, 125, 130 every night. We didn’t shoot well from 3-point range. If we’re more agile, we’ll have 1,250 points and probably score 1,250.”he thinks. “We have to keep this state of mind. Defensively we scored 98 points, which makes me happy. It’s a great way to start our trip.”

Especially as Giannis Antetokounmpo has already noted, the rest of the January calendar is very difficult for the Bucks, who will now continue with matches at the Warriors, Lakers and Nuggets, welcoming the Wolves, visiting the Spurs and Hawks, then hosting the Thunder, Nuggets and Mavs…

			Shots			Rebounds
Players	MJ	Min	Shots	3pts	LF	Off	Def	That	Pd	Bp	Int	Ct	Ft	Pts
Giannis Antetokounmpo	21	28:46	63.7	39.3	65.5	3.1	6.8	10.0	5.7	3.3	0.9	0.8	2.7	29.0
Kevin Porter Jr.	16	33:26	46.1	38.1	84.5	0.8	4.4	5.2	7.6	3.3	2.3	0.4	2.3	18.3
Ryan Rollins	35	31:36	48.3	42.2	76.3	0.7	3.5	4.2	5.8	2.4	1.6	0.4	2.8	17.4
Bobby Portis	35	23:27	49.3	48.3	73.7	1.3	5.0	6.3	1.4	1.1	0.6	0.2	1.6	13.3
Kyle Kuzma	33	26:38	51.4	31.8	75.0	1.0	3.9	4.9	2.2	1.8	0.7	0.5	2.5	13.1
Miles Turner	35	28:46	41.5	37.7	74.5	1.1	4.3	5.4	1.7	0.9	0.7	1.6	2.6	12.3
Hey Green	32	29:09	44.3	43.9	78.6	0.2	2.4	2.6	2.1	0.8	0.7	0.1	2.6	10.5
Gary Trent Jr.	33	25:56	38.3	36.6	80.6	0.1	1.2	1.4	1.5	0.7	0.8	0.1	1.5	9.0
Cole Anthony	27	14:58	42.8	28.8	59.1	0.4	2.1	2.6	3.7	1.9	0.6	0.3	2.1	6.5
Taurean Prince	8	21:08	44.7	42.9	100.0	0.0	1.6	1.6	1.0	0.6	0.8	0.3	2.5	6.1
Jericho Sims	28	14:56	83.7	0	63.6	1.3	2.6	3.9	0.6	1.1	0.2	0.2	1.8	3.2
Mark Sears	7	3:43	46.2	50.0	75.0	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.3	0.6	0.0	0.0	0.6	3.1
Gary Harris	25	14:41	50.0	44.8	100.0	0.2	1.2	1.4	1.0	0.4	0.6	0.2	1.4	2.8
Pete Nance	9	3:33	50.0	44.4	0	0.1	0.7	0.8	0.1	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
Thanasis Antetokounmpo	11	2:38	66.7	0	66.7	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.0	0.1	0.3	0.3	0.6	1.6
Amir Coffey	22	7:41 a.m	42.3	25.0	100.0	0.2	0.5	0.7	0.4	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.3	1.5
Andre Jackson Jr.	15	6:28	29.2	20.0	83.3	0.3	0.5	0.8	1.1	0.4	0.3	0.1	0.9	1.5