SALT LAKE CITY — In a game that featured two long drives for each team, the Utah Jazz came back from a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 123-108 on Sunday night at the Delta Center.
The Utah Jazz ended a three-game losing streak by using a 16-0 run to start the fourth quarter — a streak that extended to 21-3 — to hold off the Bucks (33-17), who were playing on the second night of the season. Go back.
Lauri Markkanen's 3-pointer capped that run for Utah, giving it a 104-102 lead with 6 minutes, 23 seconds left, and although a Giannis Antetokounmpo basket briefly put the Bucks back in front at 105-104, the momentum was too much to overcome. .
In the final 5:37, Utah outscored the Bucks 18-3. For the entire fourth quarter, the Bucks were 4-of-17 from the floor.
“I thought we looked great,” Bucks guard Malik Beasley said. “I thought the offense was good, the defense was good. Not enough to get too panicky. Just one of those games, back-to-back, in Utah. I think we made some of those snaps, things change. I think we're all in great shape, me and Jay (Crowder) “And Bobby (Portis). Giannis did a great job of kicking the ball and making the right plays. I couldn't hit anything.”
Square score:Jazz 123, Pax 108
The Bucks (33-17) led by as many as 19 at halftime thanks to a 14-0 run early in the second quarter — a run that extended to 19-2 — to hammer the Jazz on their heels. But the Jazz didn't collapse and the Bucks appeared to have run out of gas high in the Rockies.
“We couldn't write better shots,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “Every shot was wide open, but everything was on the front rim. We probably should have gone to the post more but they would have doubled it and let us out and still resulted in a quick shot. Good job from them.”
While the Bucks won their first game under Rivers on Saturday in Dallas, they have lost three of four on the road trip since he was benched on Jan. 29 in Denver. But there is a positive feeling in the locker room, especially since players believe they are finally building a defensive identity through scheme and consistent effort — and that adjustments on offense are creating better shot opportunities.
“When everything settles down, we'll be in very good shape, I really believe that,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think we're moving in the right direction.”
Over the last four games, the Bucks have allowed an average of 118 points per game — nearly two full points below their season average before the game against the Jazz — and have held their opponents under 30 points in eight of 16 quarters played.
“I think we tried to simplify things to make it work for the guys we have on our team and it worked,” Bobby Portis said. “I think (the things) we've been doing differently have been great and I think we're headed in the right direction.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are playing due to injuries
Less than 24 hours after combining for 78 points on an astonishing 30-for-39 shooting (76.9%) from the field in Dallas, the Bucks' star duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo (right patellar tendonitis) and Damian Lillard (sprained left ankle) faltered in the Delta. Focus on Day Sunday as, essentially, game-time decisions for the Bucks.
Lillard looked less than full steam ahead going 5-for-16 from the field, including 1-for-6 from behind the three-point line, through three quarters — but when he delivered a dunk to end the third quarter, he immediately went down and up. Limping on that ankle.
The Bucks star played 38 minutes and scored 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting.
“We think he's fine, but he was struggling the whole game with an ankle injury,” Rivers said. “I swear there were times I would have taken him out. Even in the first half, but his presence was helpful. We didn't have a lot of bodies.”
Lillard did not appear to be limping when he left the arena.
Early on, it looked like Antetokounmpo didn't have his usual toughness against Jazz big men Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kesler, but he dominated at times. However, he also seemed to fall victim to the schedule — and a workload that saw a double turnover late in the fourth quarter and a missed layup while the Jazz were blitzing him.
“Obviously we played a lot of minutes (Saturday) – I think 39 or 40 minutes – a tough game,” Antetokounmpo said of his injury. A two and a half hour flight, I arrived at the hotel around 2am at the start of the match today. This definitely doesn't help. We had kind of a tough schedule. But that's no excuse. We have to take care of our body and do everything we can, like lifting weights, recovering, etc. But no, I just tried to do what I could to help the team.
Antetokounmpo had 33 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and five turnovers.
Malik Beasley shoves Collin Sexton after he punches Giannis Antetokounmpo in the face
With 1:14 remaining in the first half and the Bucks leading 61-46, Collin Sexton drove to the basket on Antetokounmpo. As the 6-foot-3 guard entered the paint, his left shoulder appeared to collide with a Bucks forward in the face. Antetokounmpo hit the court and grabbed his face. Sexton ended the play with a bucket and Antetokounmpo stayed on the floor, and Beasley didn't like how Sexton stood over his prone teammate.
So, as the Bucks prepared to go in, Beasley ran across the court and gave Sexton a hard shoulder to the running back. Sexton turned and fell, and immediately got up and rushed at Beasley.
“I saw him staring at my teammate and giving him a mean look and I think he hit him in the face, I don't know, but I don't play that game,” Beasley said. “I got my teammate back and I'm going to use technology. (Sexton) is my son. It wasn't like trying to hurt him or anything just sending a message that it's not nice out here.”
The players did not escalate the matter from there and coaches and security from both teams immediately surrounded and separated the duo. Antetokounmpo can then be seen on the sideline pushing his palms down in a “settling” motion.
“He did it in a smart way — not in a blatant way, you know what I'm saying?” Rivers said. “I thought the whole thing would have been over if they had gone out of bounds when Sexton went out of bounds on that play. And then none of that happens. But they missed it, which is what they said they did when they watched the replay. I didn't see anything but; I didn't see — no I think he hit Giannis on purpose. But he hit him, I think. I'm not sure even to this day, you never know. And what I thought upset Malik was that Sexton stood over him. That's where, to me, if you blew the whistle on that, you wouldn't The rest happens.
After reviewing Sexton's contact with Antetokounmpo and Beasley's contact with Sexton, officials awarded Beasley and Sexton technical fouls.
“I appreciate my teammates sticking up for me,” Antetokounmpo said. “I felt something. I don't know what it was, if it was a shoulder or an elbow, I felt something hit my face. But I don't know what happened after that. I was on the ground. I don't know what happened.” “Double technical? Again, we have to support each other, no matter what happens. Whether it's good or bad, win or lose, we have to support each other and that's what we're doing now.”
more:Doc Rivers holds his first Milwaukee Bucks practice in Dallas: 'We've changed a lot'
AJ Green is making an impact on short-course bucks
On a night when the Bucks were without two key players and coming off a game in which Antetokounmpo logged 40 minutes and Lillard played 38, it was only natural that the game against the Jazz — at the height of Salt Lake City — would be a good opportunity. To see second-year players MarJon Beauchamp and AJ Green and rookie Andre Jackson Jr. And Chris Livingston.
But that was not the case, as it was only Green who saw significant action.
The 24-year-old, who received a guaranteed contract this season after a promising season as a free agent, had a big impact against the Jazz. He was the Bucks' sixth man and scored 10 points in 11 minutes. He made his first 3 three-pointers.
Unfortunately for the Bucks, he didn't score again, but he did play 22 minutes. But Rivers said Green impressed him with his toughness early, and he felt Green competed on the defensive end even when the Jazz tried to target him.
more:How the Bucks' AJ Green comes off the bench ready to shoot
This was after the sophomore guard out of Northern Iowa, the first of the young quartet on the Bucks roster to earn playing time under Rivers, saw the floor for 6:28 against Dallas. He was 2-for-2 from the field for five points. “With AJ, I watch him shoot — the ball goes in. Every time,” Rivers said before the Jazz game. “So, it makes sense to say let's get him on the floor.
But it's been a steep learning curve for the Bucks' new head coach.
“That was the hardest part, honestly,” Rivers said before the game about the younger part of the roster. “You come in and you know all the vets. By God we played them all young guys, half of them I've never seen before in my life, or talked to, and now I'm trying to see if they can play.
They didn't get that chance against Utah, as Jackson Jr., Beauchamp and Livingston didn't score until the final seconds.
“Yeah, the only guy honestly I thought I could have played Ruben (Lopez) more,” Rivers said when asked about his shortstop bench. “That was our game plan. We got him on the floor and extended the lead. That was the one thing I thought we could have done more just to get guys some rest. But I can't do that right now.”
Before the game, the Bucks' coach reiterated his idea in his initial press conference on Jan. 27 that one of these players could help the team moving forward.
“I think we'll slowly start using one or two of them for sure,” he said. “I think at least one can help us.
“I think there will be more than one, really, because I think there are two; Two of them are just completely different people and we'll use them that way.
Five numbers
4 Damian Lillard ranks first all-time in three-point attempts after passing Los Angeles' LeBron James on his fifth attempt against the Jazz. Lillard went 1-8 from deep, giving him 6,806 career attempts. Ray Allen is No. 3 all-time with 7,429 three-point attempts.
6-2 The Bucks scored in the second game of a back-to-back. With the win in Dallas on Saturday, the Bucks improved to 5-3 in two sets.
13 Bucks fourth quarter points. The Jazz scored 40 points.
21 The second quarter points scored by the Jazz allowed the Bucks to erase a six-point deficit in the first quarter and take the lead. That's the same number the Dallas Mavericks posted on Saturday, allowing the Bucks to nearly erase a 24-point first-quarter deficit.
35 The technical fouls of the season by Bucks players after Malik Beasley got one in the second quarter. This was Beasley's third technical test of the year.
Khris Middleton excluded in favor of Pax
After playing a season-high 38 minutes, 29 seconds on Saturday against Dallas, the Bucks held off Khris Middleton in Sunday's game in Salt Lake City to treat a right knee injury.
It is the eighth match the 32-year-old will miss, seven of which were part of straight sets. He has played in back-to-back games just once, logging 15 minutes in the first half against San Antonio on January 4.
Middleton has not played 38 minutes in a regular-season game since March 4, 2022 at Chicago (38:45).
Brook Lopez remains out of action for personal reasons
The Bucks midfielder missed Saturday's game in Dallas, and also missed the game against the Jazz for personal reasons.
Bucks hire assistant coach Pete Dominguez
Doc Rivers has added to his coaching staff since taking over on January 26. Dave Joerger and Rex Kalamian were at Rivers' introductory press conference on January 27, and Pete Dominguez was brought on board shortly thereafter.
Dominguez worked with Rivers in Philadelphia and with the Los Angeles Clippers and Rivers said he was instrumental in building the video room at both places. Kalamian also helped coach the Armenian national team and coached Obras Sanitarias in Argentina.
Along with video duties, Rivers said Dominguez will help with player development, defense and “training coaches.”
“He's a very important guy to me,” Rivers said.
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