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The Milwaukee Bucks needed that uplifting win Thursday night over the Los Angeles Lakers, and they needed everything from Brook Lopez to do it.
By the time the Bucks tore through a 23-7 run and seized a 102-82 third-quarter lead over the Luka Dončić-led Lakers, the veteran Milwaukee center was putting forth the kind of game-changing, hope-restoring performance the Bucks needed at this point in the season to recalibrate his team. He was shooting 7-for-8 at the time, and 3-for-4 from three-point range.
But it was his blocked shot – his fourth of the game – that put the exclamation point on Milwaukee's statement game.
Lopez backed off team coverage of Dončić up top, left of three-point arc and ran one-third of the court to the opposite corner on the right. He bypassed a defensive assignment in the paint, trusting that Giannis Antetokounmpo would hold down the fort in the low post and guard Jarred Vanderbilt.
And Lopez kept running without hesitation, all the way to the corner, to block Dorian Finney-Smith’s three-point attempt.
Blocking a three is rare enough for the big man − he recalled getting Al Horford on a blocked three a couple of years ago. But the play showed the teamwork – and hustle – of Lopez, knowing that he could count on Antetokounmpo.
“That was me trusting that Giannis was going to have my back,” Lopez said. “The big one is going to have my back, and so then I had to get out there and have his back. You know, it's only fair.”
Arguably, both teams were thirsty for a win. The Lakers came in having lost two straight and were down three starters, including LeBron James, due to injury.
The Bucks came in having lost three straight, that last one at Indiana being particularly loathsome, coming on a football play drawn up for Oshkosh native Tyrese Haliburton.
Not only that, both the Bucks and Lakers would leave Fiserv Forum on Thursday night to face grueling schedules on the immediate horizon, with Los Angeles jetting off to Denver, and Milwaukee hosting Indiana and then Oklahoma City this weekend in a back-to-back.
In the midst of this always-insane NBA schedule is Lopez, the elder statesman of the Bucks who will turn 37 in about three weeks.
“Brute force, that’s what we need from Brook,” new teammate Kevin Porter Jr. said a couple of weeks ago. “He’s getting to that age where he can’t really move a little. He’s a little slower, but his force and his IQ sets him alone.”
For his part, Lopez never has bought in to the aging gracefully thing. He’s always fiercely fought for his starter role, his starter minutes, and doesn't seem to care about his1988 birth year or the fact that he's one of the older players in the NBA.
“I don’t pay attention to all that stuff anyway,” Lopez said the week before the Bucks won the Emirates NBA Cup in Las Vegas. “I’m ignorant to all that stuff. I’m completely out of the loop there so − I guess it’s a good thing.”
Instead, Lopez plays to his strengths, where he can time his jumps for blocked shots, and play off his new compadre at the center position, Jericho Sims, using team size to his advantage.
In all, Lopez finished with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting in 30 minutes. He was perfect from the free-throw line, had 5 assists, a steal and no turnovers.
But again, Lopez, with that ballhawk-like low stance on defense, forces opponents to factor him into their shot selection and how they have to get around him to score, because it's too difficult to go right at him.
Lopez recently climbed to 19th all-time in NBA history in blocked shots.
“I remember when I first came in the league, Brook was an All Star − in Brooklyn, and it wasn't for defense,” teammate Damian Lillard said recently. “So for him to be moving up that, that list like that, he's completely changed who he is as a player, in a way, to adjust to the league and to keep being an impact player on a good team. So he should be proud of that.
“And obviously he means a lot to our team on that end of the floor.”
Milwaukee also needed several other high-achieving performances from the bench − Gary Trent Jr. was a factor − to snap the losing streak and calibrate the wild week.
But if the Bucks are going anywhere in the playoffs this year, they're going to need veteran leadership on and off the court, and that includes Lopez.
More: Milwaukee Bucks honor Junior Bridgeman with a jersey patch and tribute video
In the 48 hours after the Bucks lost at Indiana, they did not overreact or dissolve into a negative-culture mentality.
“We're all in a good place. You know, it was a tough little slide, obviously, a tough way to end the game," Lopez said of the Indiana loss. "But we did a lot of good things that game, a lot of good things. And so I thought we came in with a pretty good attitude in shoot-around.
"And we knew it was going to be another big game tonight, another TV game. The crowd was going to be up; people always show out where the Lakers are. So we knew it was going to be a great atmosphere. We wanted to come in and take advantage of that, kind of ride that energy.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brook Lopez key for Milwaukee Bucks in victory vs Los Angeles Lakers
Continue reading...
By the time the Bucks tore through a 23-7 run and seized a 102-82 third-quarter lead over the Luka Dončić-led Lakers, the veteran Milwaukee center was putting forth the kind of game-changing, hope-restoring performance the Bucks needed at this point in the season to recalibrate his team. He was shooting 7-for-8 at the time, and 3-for-4 from three-point range.
But it was his blocked shot – his fourth of the game – that put the exclamation point on Milwaukee's statement game.
Lopez backed off team coverage of Dončić up top, left of three-point arc and ran one-third of the court to the opposite corner on the right. He bypassed a defensive assignment in the paint, trusting that Giannis Antetokounmpo would hold down the fort in the low post and guard Jarred Vanderbilt.
And Lopez kept running without hesitation, all the way to the corner, to block Dorian Finney-Smith’s three-point attempt.
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Blocking a three is rare enough for the big man − he recalled getting Al Horford on a blocked three a couple of years ago. But the play showed the teamwork – and hustle – of Lopez, knowing that he could count on Antetokounmpo.
“That was me trusting that Giannis was going to have my back,” Lopez said. “The big one is going to have my back, and so then I had to get out there and have his back. You know, it's only fair.”
Arguably, both teams were thirsty for a win. The Lakers came in having lost two straight and were down three starters, including LeBron James, due to injury.
The Bucks came in having lost three straight, that last one at Indiana being particularly loathsome, coming on a football play drawn up for Oshkosh native Tyrese Haliburton.
Not only that, both the Bucks and Lakers would leave Fiserv Forum on Thursday night to face grueling schedules on the immediate horizon, with Los Angeles jetting off to Denver, and Milwaukee hosting Indiana and then Oklahoma City this weekend in a back-to-back.
In the midst of this always-insane NBA schedule is Lopez, the elder statesman of the Bucks who will turn 37 in about three weeks.
“Brute force, that’s what we need from Brook,” new teammate Kevin Porter Jr. said a couple of weeks ago. “He’s getting to that age where he can’t really move a little. He’s a little slower, but his force and his IQ sets him alone.”
For his part, Lopez never has bought in to the aging gracefully thing. He’s always fiercely fought for his starter role, his starter minutes, and doesn't seem to care about his1988 birth year or the fact that he's one of the older players in the NBA.
“I don’t pay attention to all that stuff anyway,” Lopez said the week before the Bucks won the Emirates NBA Cup in Las Vegas. “I’m ignorant to all that stuff. I’m completely out of the loop there so − I guess it’s a good thing.”
You must be registered for see images
Instead, Lopez plays to his strengths, where he can time his jumps for blocked shots, and play off his new compadre at the center position, Jericho Sims, using team size to his advantage.
In all, Lopez finished with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting in 30 minutes. He was perfect from the free-throw line, had 5 assists, a steal and no turnovers.
But again, Lopez, with that ballhawk-like low stance on defense, forces opponents to factor him into their shot selection and how they have to get around him to score, because it's too difficult to go right at him.
Lopez recently climbed to 19th all-time in NBA history in blocked shots.
“I remember when I first came in the league, Brook was an All Star − in Brooklyn, and it wasn't for defense,” teammate Damian Lillard said recently. “So for him to be moving up that, that list like that, he's completely changed who he is as a player, in a way, to adjust to the league and to keep being an impact player on a good team. So he should be proud of that.
“And obviously he means a lot to our team on that end of the floor.”
Milwaukee also needed several other high-achieving performances from the bench − Gary Trent Jr. was a factor − to snap the losing streak and calibrate the wild week.
But if the Bucks are going anywhere in the playoffs this year, they're going to need veteran leadership on and off the court, and that includes Lopez.
More: Milwaukee Bucks honor Junior Bridgeman with a jersey patch and tribute video
In the 48 hours after the Bucks lost at Indiana, they did not overreact or dissolve into a negative-culture mentality.
“We're all in a good place. You know, it was a tough little slide, obviously, a tough way to end the game," Lopez said of the Indiana loss. "But we did a lot of good things that game, a lot of good things. And so I thought we came in with a pretty good attitude in shoot-around.
"And we knew it was going to be another big game tonight, another TV game. The crowd was going to be up; people always show out where the Lakers are. So we knew it was going to be a great atmosphere. We wanted to come in and take advantage of that, kind of ride that energy.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brook Lopez key for Milwaukee Bucks in victory vs Los Angeles Lakers
Continue reading...
