NBA TODAY | “Milwaukee’s defense is good enough to make noise in East” – Lowe on Bucks beat Clippers

NBA TODAY | “Milwaukee’s defense is good enough to make noise in East” – Lowe on Bucks beat Clippers

Check in on Milwaukee no Giannis no problem it was Dame time in Milwaukee last night Yannis onto TMO though tried to go in warm-ups but is out battling left achilles tendonitis doc River said Giannis has been dealing with this issue for the past few games so he did not

Play but picking it up in the fourth quarter I mean Bobby pis showed up big and the crowd loved it oh he’s the emotional lead leader of this bu team I love to see that Bobby Porter Milwaukee just loves loves this guy and I think La kind of likes the

Version that they’re getting if James Harden Harden had 29 Points and eight assists this was going back and forth but watch that beautiful Euro Step and one son the Bucks Trail 8784 after Dame’s free throw now later in the fourth Patrick Beverly for three Bev had 12 points9 rebounds oh he extremely

Tough physical Doc Rivers kind of player boy he’s going to make this team a tough out in the playoffs absolutely but also who else will make this a tough out won Dame Lillard who had 41 where he shooting from like that’s ridic ulous from the parking lot like come on guys

Now next possession for Milwaukee right here pis knocks down the jumper and yanus loves it with the stank face a little bit bucks up 100 one 105 100 and another floater here for big bucket Bobby is that the new nickname I guess so Milwaukee still leads by seven and

Then Beverly finds Porter for the corner three Porter had 28 points 16 rebounds as the Bucks win 113 106 now the Bucks have won six straight games out of all St break behind get this having the League’s third best offense and best defense during this time will say that

Again third best offense and best defense during this time post Allstar yes best defense and by the way by the way Ramona this includes wins over top West teams in the Timberwolves and the Clippers and Tim legler has more on how the Bucks have been able to turn around their

Defense well chanet you know I’ve coached a lot of basketball in my life and one of my favorite play sets defensively was named play harder it’s sometimes really that simple and I’ve seen that out of the Bucks as they’re improving their defensive numbers right now and also their schemes have been

Good the two3 zone They ployed last night really affected the Clippers let’s talk about both things and why the Bucks were able to get this win so the play harder component and I’ve seen some of this during this winning streak starts right here Damen Lillard turns the

Basketball over and if you can’t really see where he is just take a look this is Damen Lillard here he is completely trailing the action and you can see the Clippers clearly have numbers you got four guys up the court with a surge and a fast break and a lot of talent running

This break with Liller that far behind the play as the Clippers come up great ball reversal stop it right here you’re going to see Amir coffee run to this corner and look at the space that he has when James Harden makes this pass to the corner but Damen Lillard never quit on

The play look at the ground he covers to force him to run off the three-point line first and then he counts on getting help on the back line that’s exactly what he gets right here galinari comes over to stop dribble penetration three players on the weak side Zone up waiting on that

Next pass to come out which it does and I want you to look at Malik Beasley come out there get not only a close out but get his hand in the passing Lane that leads directly to offense now this is the second part of what I talked about improving defensively scheme and

Communication they went to this Zone primarily the entire second half and it really affected the clippers because they could not get into their ball screen or isolation game and one of the big reasons they just didn’t occupy this area of the floor offensively which is critical against the zone They never

Really did it Paul George starts there but then slips away when kawh Leonard catches this basketball this would have been a great opportunity right here for Paul George to flash middle receive the basketball from the wing and then force on the back line a reaction from one of

These two players which would have meant a wideopen three-pointer in one of these corners but because the ball didn’t get delivered there and instead there was dribble penetration the Bucks are able to stay in their two3 Zone and match up now kawhai finally does Flash middle but

Watch the reaction great one here on the part of Brook Lopez he has to come all the way up from the back line to play him one-on-one tries to turn the corner go up over one of the best shop blockers in the league gets a piece deters kawii

Leonard right at the rim and this was during that stage in the game when the momentum was changing and the Milwaukee Bucks were taking control I thought their defense was exceptional in this game and it has been during the winning streak chenet let’s see if they can keep

It going forward thanks Tim for stopping by and breaking it all down and speaking of which the defense has absolutely taken major rides since doc River’s arrival but so has Dame Lillard take a listen to Dame on how doc has helped him open up his game for a significant part of the year

Was just just trying to find my way you know trying to find my spaces where I would have opportunity and um you know I just think because I played against doc so many times in the west um and he had to scout against me so when he came in

He was just like you guys don’t run this you guys don’t run that like this is stuff we hated to guard against you and uh he just started to slowly put some of those actions in and slowly we’re starting to see that it is officially become Dame time in Milwaukee and shout

Out to Barry BAL of the Bucks because he gifted our amazing producer Hillary uh this nice little box of Dame time watch I’m going to put it on and I might also seal it you can see the Dame time there we go I’ll put it on Apple watch it’s

Even better because it’s clutch it always it it always delivers in in moments of need now Scott what differ have you seen from Dame since allar break well I see the Dame that I used to watch for the last decade exactly in Portland and it’s not just the three-point shooting we know he’s

Terrific at that but the way he got downhill and attacked the rim with such Force I thought that set the entire tone for not only this game but a number of the games since Allstar break and you can it feel like he’s playing free and much more liberated right now so I’m

Really impressed with what Dame is doing right now well I mean Doc Rivers has this mant they got to go from good to great right and and I don’t even know that they were good on defense okay right right and and and and Tim gave a great breakdown of like what they did

With their Zone and I know how you guys talk about Zone like like you go to Zone because you can’t really guard him with man right but that zone was so effective because they were trying harder because you did see Dame trying to close out their effort was there and so much of

What the issue that they had before was just team effort like everybody buying into what they’re doing roles I think that’s why they went and got Doc Rivers cuz he he understands that you got to put guys in positions to succeed he’s seen Dame at his best he’s putting him

There last night he was the only one of the big three out there Chris Middleton’s still been out Giannis was out with the with the Achilles injury and so it’s just Dame he’s used to that in Portland yeah just him right yeah well I I tell you what I really like

Last night what doc did I thought this was a win that’s going to carry a lot of momentum for this team whenever you can win a game as a coach without two of your top three players like you did it it’s going to still a lot of confidence

In the entire roster and in you as a coach y but they will need to sustain that so Zach do you believe that the Bucks have the right momentum do you think that they’ve turned a corner here oh I think it’s getting interesting I think it’s getting a little spicy

They’re trending upward like this Dame is trending upward like this I thought last night was as explosive and decisive going to the basket as he has looked all season from start to finish on any game and look the defense has gotten better and sturdier this is not going to be a

Great defensive team but if it’s good enough when they get healthy their offense is going to be dynamite and that is the kind of formula where they have enough to really challenge Boston in the East and boy does we do we need someone to challenge step up and challenge

Boston in the East cuz they’re lapping the field right now but this team fully healthy fully optimized is very very dangerous and that’s why to me there is no bigger wild card right now in the East than how Chris Middleton comes back from that ankle injury and whether he

Can stay healthy stay on the court and in the playoffs play 30 plus minutes every game of highlevel basketball because if they run into Boston or a healthy Knicks team or a healthy embiid that’s what they’re going to need to get by yeah th those are some you know

Question marks though on the other side of the ball because we’re talking about a game in which they played the Clippers right and these two teams are clearly heading into opposite directions with the Bucs having won six straight games out of the break and then the Clippers

Having lost six of their last 11 games so when you pair them side by side I think we’re shocked here on the West Coast so these are two conference contenders but the Clippers have it seems like run out of seam over the last few weeks so Zach How concerned are you

On the other side of the ball with LA’s recent slide I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt because you can’t go 27 and five or whatever it was over that long of a stretch without being an elite elite team and I do think they’ve hit a

Little bit of malaise a little bit of Dog Days Allstar post trade deadline malaise we’ve proven what we can do but the juice isn’t there right now they do Miss Russ in that sense because if you need a jolt of energy for better or worse Russ is going to bring that off

The bench and jolt you into gear and you do feel his absence I would like to see them get back to running their offense with a little more verb a little more speed right now like tyou likes to say they’re just walking around on offense they’ve lost some steam and look this is

A veteran team a lot of guys who have done a lot of things in the playoffs on this team they’ve already proven what they can do they know what they have to do but right now they’re settled into that four seed and maybe they don’t care but that looks like they’re going to

Where they’re going to be and they need to get back into Rhythm before the playoffs start not during the playoffs and Zach you said a lot of these guys on the Clippers have accomplishments in their career but some of them are still seeking championships but it really

Feels like they need a feel-good win and how about on Wednesday because our next NBA Wednesday double header starts in Spe br en give I for en has deated victory good for again to foreign speech forign Jo good to foreign spe speech that’s a good ch Jo spe get get get I Jo the forign speeech Jo for

NBA TODAY | “Milwaukee’s defense is good enough to make noise in East” – Zach Lowe on Bucks beat Clippers