2025 NBA Epitome Games: Milwaukee Bucks #NBA #Suns #Bucks
You are watching the 2025 NBA game series presented by Law Murray, Power Rankings Project Ring Master at The Athletic. This is where I pick out one game from each team from the last regular season. I am putting the spotlight on the biggest weakness of the 14 teams that missed the playoffs and the biggest strength of the 16 playoff teams from the regular season. This installment features the Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis Adenumbo was an MVP finalist while earning a seventh straight AllNBA first team selection. But this is about the Bucks, not just a Dennbo. And while Milwaukee was good, they certainly weren’t great. I guess winning the NBA Cup was great. Damen Lillard was an all-star, but he missed the end of the regular season while dealing with a blood clot. And then he tore his Achilles tendon in the playoffs. Chris Middleton was traded mid-season for Kyle Koozma. And after finishing with a 48-34 record, the Bucks lost in the quarterfinals for the third year in a row with the Pacers beating them for the second year in a row. The epitome game for Milwaukee came in April against the Suns. The return visit for 2021 champion head coach Mike Budenholder. Kevin Durant was out for the Suns, but Milwaukee was missing Damen Lillard due to deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. And it came down to making shots. The Bucks were elite. NBA offense really doesn’t have to be complicated. This is Kyle Koosma and he sees Brook Lopez who had just hit a three-pointer wide open above the break in the spot that he likes to shoot from and he hits his second three of the first quarter to force a timeout and to give Milwaukee a double digit lead. See, it’s aggravating when a guy you know can shoot makes shots. It’s even more aggravating when Giannis Adenkumbbo makes this shot. See, people don’t say anymore, what if Giannis adds this to his game? Giannis is going to be a subpar three-point shooter, but that doesn’t mean he can’t make threes. Now, what people worry about with Giannis is the fact that he can trample you inside the ark. Just the threat of him being able to take someone off the dribble forces a double team forces the Phoenix Suns in a rotation, a drive, a kick, a swing, another pass to the corner, and that gets Ryan Rollins wide open for a three. Now, while Kyle Kosma uses his Brook Lopez screen, both Giannis and Brooke are above the three-point line. Once Brooke gets it, Giannis gets into the paint and that forces Colin Gillespie to move off of the corner. Torian Prince gets that corner three because of the threat of Giannis inside. The Bucks won this game 133 to 123, making a season high 58.6% 6% of their 29 three-point attempts and making 68.9% from the field overall, the highest mark by any team in any game last season. Milwaukee was actually the most accurate three-point shooting team in the league last season. The Bucks made the shocking decision to wave Lillard and they also replaced Brook Lopez at center with Miles Turner. All eyes are on Adenkumbbo who has a player option for 2027. Adenkumbo is set up to have a great shot at an MVP award, but this is about the Bucks, not just Adenumbo. And Milwaukee holds their breath on how long he will be content with the team that hasn’t been a contender since winning the championship. Stay tuned for the next installment of the 2025 NBA Epidem Games Series featuring the Orlando Magic.
2025 NBA Epitome Games: Milwaukee Bucks #NBA #Suns #Bucks
