PHILADELPHIA — Heading into the 2024-25 season opener on Wednesday, there were many reasons why the Milwaukee Bucks could have had a lackluster first game.
On Tuesday, the Philadelphia 76ers, announced that two of their three star players, Joel Embiid and Paul George, wouldn’t play. A few hours later, Bucks coach Doc Rivers told the media that his team’s third All-Star, Khris Middleton, would be unable to participate as he recovers from offseason procedures to clean up lingering issues in both ankles.
Once the game started, the lackluster mood seemed to carry into the first quarter as the Bucks made just 1 of 7 3-point attempts, committed three early turnovers and saw the 76ers grab six offensive rebounds. The Bucks found themselves trailing early.
But the Bucks responded by outscoring the 76ers by 12 points in the second quarter and then pushing the lead to 22 in the second half, allowing them to cruise to an easy 124-109 victory over one of their top rivals in the Eastern Conference.
When asked what changed after the first quarter, their head coach gave a simple answer.
“I think our guys are serious about this season,” Rivers said following Wednesday night’s win. “You can see it.”
That seriousness was evident in the performances of the Bucks’ top statistical performers.
It was clear with Damian Lillard knocking down six 3-pointers and scoring 30 points in the first three quarters to go along with nine rebounds and six assists on the night.
It showed up in Antetokounmpo’s opening night tallies of 25 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. With six blocks on the night, Brook Lopez proved he was serious about protecting the rim. Newcomer Taurean Prince knocked down his first four 3-point attempts of the season.
Truly serious performances, though, require an even greater attention to detail. And for that, Gary Trent Jr.’s defense on All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey should be highlighted.
Without Embiid and George, the 76ers put the offensive responsibility in the hands of their lightning-quick 23-year-old point guard, and he responded by taking 31 shots in 39 minutes. And while the Bucks didn’t match every minute Trent played with every minute Maxey played, Trent was given the task of staying connected to Maxey for most of the night and competed at an extremely high level.
“Incredible,” Antetokounmpo said of Trent’s defensive performance. “It’s hard guarding one of the quickest players in the NBA, full court, always being in front, navigating screens, putting your body on the line, and that’s what he did tonight and he was incredible. (Maxey) took a lot of shots. He made a lot of shots. He missed a lot of shots, but I think (Trent) was there for every one of them and he did an incredible job.
“He’s probably tired.”
While Trent made no such complaints, no one would have blamed him if he asked for a few extra bags of ice following Wednesday’s game. Trent made Maxey work for every touch and once Maxey had the ball in his hands, Trent made him work for every inch on drives to the basket.
Just look at Trent’s effort on one of the first possessions of the game.
The 76ers’ inbound play called for Maxey to take a dribble handoff from 76ers center Andre Drummond, but Trent got physical with Maxey and used his body to force him away from the screen. Rather than give up when Maxey created the space on his initial overplay, Trent sprinted back to Maxey for a tight closeout that took away a look at a catch-and-shoot 3. He then connected himself to Maxey’s right hip to force him to the baseline and the waiting help of Antetokounmpo.
Maxey eventually beat Antetokounmpo to the baseline for an attempt at the rim, but Trent did his job.
“It was everything, just keeping the second effort,” Trent said of trying to stay connected to Maxey throughout the night. “Another energy just to keep going, whether it’s through illegal screens, guys sticking knees out, Kyle Lowry trying to stand in my way, different things like that, but just trying to impact the basketball and make him make a tough shot.”
Whether it was the first quarter or the fourth quarter, Trent made second- and third-effort plays on defense.
Since Antetokounmpo became a superstar in the 2018-19 season, the player starting at shooting guard for the Bucks has been a somewhat thankless job.
That player is expected to knock down open shots when playing alongside Antetokounmpo (and now Lillard) and guard the other team’s best player every night. Every miss is a shot they “should” have made and every big scoring night for the team’s best player is something they “should” have prevented. It’s difficult, but on Wednesday night, Trent did it about as well as it can be done.
“I played with Gary his first three years in the league and his first playoff series, we played a game together against the Lakers in the (NBA) bubble,” Lillard said. “They started him on LeBron James and nobody can guard LeBron, but the fact that was his assignment tells you. He may not have a reputation for it, but I have seen him do it. I have played with him, I’ve seen him in practices, and I have seen him in plenty of games where I knew he was capable of that. He puts his mind to it.
“Tonight, he came in on a mission. He knows what his role is on our team, he knows what we need for us to win, and I think tonight was the first time, we showed that he is committed to doing that. Guarding a guy that fast, that explosive, can shoot, goes both ways, constantly having the ball, and he was there for it the whole game. That’s the type of effort we need.”
And while putting in the effort is much of what is required in the role, adding technique to that effort vastly increases the seriousness of the work. And Trent brought that high-level focus to his effort on Wednesday as well.
Since coming to Milwaukee, Lopez has been one of the NBA’s best defensive big men in drop pick-and-roll coverage. But in his best moments, like when he blocks six shots like he did on Wednesday, Lopez is quick to note the importance of his defensive pick-and-roll partners. One of the things he has always found most helpful is on-ball defenders that force the ballhandler to decide as early in the process as possible.
In drop pick-and-roll coverage, the big man is backpedaling toward the basket while knowing the ballhandler could either take the shot or dump it off to their pick-and-roll partner something called “playing two” in typical NBA parlance. The best point guards keep their options open as long as possible and force the big man to “play two” until the last moment. For example, imagine Trae Young hanging in the air deciding between a floater in the lane or a late lob to Clint Capela.
It was subtle, but watch Trent (and Lillard as a help defender) on this first-quarter possession:
While Trent is initially dislodged by Gershon Yabusele’s dribble handoff, he quickly attaches himself to Maxey with help from Lillard, which forces Maxey to start his gather to the rim at the top of the key:
With Maxey’s dribble no longer alive, Lopez makes his way to the rim and aggressively attacks the guard’s attempt at the rim, knowing that his only possible play other than a shot would be an acrobatic kick-out to a career 32 percent 3-point shooter. The effort by Trent to get back into the play and force Maxey to pick up his dribble early helped Lopez become an even greater deterrent at the rim.
“I thought he was fantastic,” Lopez said of Trent. “He has all the tools to be so great for us defensively at the point of attack and he has the right mentality for that too. He was great all night disrupting them, making things tough for them, and like I said, it’s the point of attack, that’s the start of our defense. When he’s great, it trickles down to everyone else.”
In the fourth quarter, Trent did something similar on this play:
By staying connected to Maxey and swiping at the ball around the elbow, Trent forces Maxey to pick up his dribble earlier than he wants and allows Lopez to attack the shot with a big swat, which turns it into a much tougher shot in the lane. Rather than a step late, Lopez protects the rim a step early and that was because of Trent’s meticulous effort on Maxey.
Too often, these types of plays were missing from the Bucks’ defensive effort last season.
“He was awesome,” River said of Trent. “Physical. Tough.”
It was just one game, but Trent brought the type of on-ball defense that the Bucks lacked throughout most of last season. If the Bucks are going to get back to being a top-10 defensive team this season, they will need to be consistent and serious at the point of attack, just like they were on opening night.
(Photo of Gary Trent Jr.: David Dow / NBAE via Getty Images)