On Thursday, the Milwaukee Bucks lost their second preseason game as the Los Angeles Lakers grabbed a 107-102 comeback victory by outscoring the Bucks 33-20 in the final frame. While the Lakers reserves dominated the Bucks reserves in the fourth, Bucks coach Doc Rivers found himself pleased with the effort level throughout the entire game.
“You don’t get a lot of games where it’s their starters versus your starters and guys are playing hard,” Rivers said. “I thought the game was played with some intensity. That was nice to see. I think from both coaches, probably very happy with that.”
While it was only a preseason game, there was plenty of action and intensity on the floor. So let’s look at the game’s three biggest takeaways.
After sitting out the Bucks’ first preseason game, two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was not shy in his first game action at Fiserv Forum since crumpling to the floor against the Boston Celtics in April, ending his 2023-24 campaign.
Antetokounmpo scored the first four points of the game but displayed his return to action with a massive chase-down block on Lakers superstar LeBron James at the start of the second quarter.
GIANNIS CHASEDOWN REJECTION 😲
LAL-MIL on NBA TV | #NBAPreseason pic.twitter.com/0Dw04bgEmF
— NBA (@NBA) October 11, 2024
To send James’ shot flying, Antetokounmpo gave up his body and crashed to the floor after the block, a sight that could leave Bucks fans holding their collective breath. But Rivers waved away any thought of telling Antetokounmpo to take it easy because it’s just an exhibition game.
“You are you who are,” Rivers said of Antetokounmpo. “And that’s what makes him great. That’s what makes all these players great is they just play. Those guys don’t think about it ’cause that’s how they play.”
A few minutes later, following a steal by point guard Damian Lillard, Antetokounmpo threw down a hellacious one-handed slam in transition and then he gave the crowd one of his signature mean mugs to celebrate the occasion.
Steal. Slam. Mean mug. pic.twitter.com/YRWqgJrRc0
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) October 11, 2024
Antetokounmpo looked like the player who has dominated the NBA for most of the last decade and has finished in the top 5 of NBA MVP voting for the last six seasons.
As he did on Sunday in Detroit, perennial NBA Sixth Man of the Year candidate Bobby Portis entered the game and immediately started knocking down shots. For a second straight preseason game, Portis made his first four 3-point attempts.
BOBBY IS ON FIRE 🔥@gruber_law | #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/R0sSDoeqFW
— Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) October 11, 2024
And while he missed his fifth one in Detroit, he knocked down his fifth 3-point attempt against the Lakers. Portis tallied 20 points on only eight shots in the first nine minutes he was on the floor.
Through two games, Portis has missed just one shot from deep and is shooting an absurd 90 percent from behind the 3-point line. Portis, like the rest of the starters, did not play in the second half but still tallied 23 points and three rebounds in 14 minutes in the first half.
In the Bucks’ first two preseason games, Portis played a little more than 28 minutes and tallied 39 points. He has shot the ball with confidence and played with the swagger that has made him a dangerous scorer off the bench for years.
“I love how we play Bobby,” Rivers said. “Like, he knows it coming in. Vinnie Johnson or whoever else you want to name, the great guys coming off the bench that ‘we’re going to you.’ Be responsible with it. He made a couple of good passes, too. But we want him to be aggressive.”
As Rivers mentioned, Portis was so hot from behind the 3-point line and his trigger was so quick that he used a pump fake in transition to fool Lakers defenders and create a dunk for Antetokounmpo with a nifty bit of playmaking to open the second quarter.
When asked what he thought had led to his strong early start to the preseason, Portis passionately explained his offseason.
“I credit my hard work over the summer,” Portis said. “A whole lot of naysayers talking crazy on my name. Every time I get on social media, every time I do something it’s always somebody’s saying something about me. I credit myself on working hard each and every year, getting better.
“One thing I’ve done my whole career is just continue to get better each and every year no matter what nobody says. So, my biggest thing this summer was to get in the gym and just work. I worked every f—— day of my life this summer, like a madman, bro. I just want my work to show on the court. So hopefully, it just translates in preseason. But I’m just playing with confidence and going out there and being who I am. I put a lot of work into my craft.”
AJ Johnson impresses after sped-up debut
With 5 minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Damian Lillard threw a pass out of bounds as he drove to the basket. While coaches never want to see turnovers, what they don’t want to see, especially in the preseason, is what causes the turnover.
As Lillard drove to the hoop, his feet got twisted up and it appeared as though he sprained his ankle, which left him wincing as he jogged up the floor and tried to play through it. Not wasting any time, Rivers took him out of the game at the next dead ball and brought in rookie point guard AJ Johnson.
Lillard ended up being fine and played later in the game, but Johnson’s entry into the game came sooner than expected, which could have put him in a tough spot.
On Sunday against the Pistons, Johnson went 1 of 8 from the field for two points and tallied three turnovers to only two assists. The 19-year-old never seemed to find his rhythm and looked uncomfortable adjusting to the NBA for the first time.
“The game for AJ the other night was going a million miles an hour, you could see it,” Rivers said on Tuesday. “Nine times out of 10, I would have taken him out, but I had no interest in taking him out. I was just going to let him stay out there just to stay out there. I thought it was a good thing for him.”
When asked about Johnson before the game on Thursday, Rivers joked that Johnson was still going to be a teenager and that the game might still be moving fast for him. Rivers emphasized that Johnson received a lot of instruction over the last few days and there is a lot of belief in him throughout the organization. That extra instruction seemed to shine through as the young point guard entered the game for Lillard and immediately made an impact.
While Johnson struggled to find the right tempo against the Pistons, against the Lakers he perfectly used his electric speed to create an advantage for his team and then maintained it by slowing down and making the right pass to Portis on one of his first possessions.
In the second half, Johnson used that speed to get past his defender and then used great body control at the rim to finish around Anthony Davis, one of the league’s best shot blockers.
“The biggest thing with him, man, is just trying to tell him just to slow down,” Portis said of Johnson after the game. “Obviously, when you first get into the league, you’re kind of playing ultra-fast and you don’t know that the game can be just slow.
“It takes some minutes to find your rhythm, find your pace on how you want to play it at your speed. Everybody has their own speed on the court, right? So I think his biggest thing is trying to find the speed that he needs to play at to be effective and to be a pro.”
With Lillard running the show and Delon Wright taking the rest of the minutes at backup point guard, Johnson’s playing time will likely be limited this season, but that does not mean he will never get his chances. Injuries happen and so do blowouts, so Johnson will have to use the chances he receives this season to not only make the most of his limited time on the floor but also use the instruction he receives in practices to make the most of his rookie season.
(Photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo: Morry Gash/ Associated Press)
