Brook Lopez Archives - Wisconsin Radio Network

Giannis powers Bucks past Jazz

November 26, 2019 By Bill Scott

Playing without Khris Middleton and George Hill, the Milwaukee Bucks struggled in the first half against the Utah Jazz, trailing by nine points at halftime. But Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in 50 points, 32 in the second half, to lead the Bucks to a come-from-behind 122-118 win over the Jazz at Fiserv Forum.

The win was the Bucks eighth in a row, their longest win streak since the 2002 season.

The Bucks (14-3) trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, but Antetokounmpo tried to keep them in it, scoring 18 first half points.

Wesley Matthews was a big part of the second half comeback as well, hitting four three-pointers in as many tries in the third quarter.

Down the stretch, the Jazz refused to go easy. Utah had the ball, down by two with the shot clock off. Donovan Mitchell drove to the basket and Bucks big man Brook Lopez made a key block and pulling down the rebound. He quickly gave the ball to Pat Connaughton who was fouled and iced the game with a pair of free throws.

The Bucks are off on Tuesday and host the Atlanta Hawks at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday night.

Bucks push win streak to four, knock off Bulls

November 19, 2019 By Bill Scott

Giannis Antetokounmpo compiled 33 points and 10 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks knocked off the Chicago Bulls 115-101 at the United Center in Chicago. The Bucks extended their win streak to four with the final game of their road trip in Atlanta on Wednesday night.

Brook Lopez added 19 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots and George Hill came off the bench to add 18 for the Bucks (10-3), who improved to 7-2 on the road this season.

Antetokounmpo spent the night in foul trouble and played the final half of the fourth quarter with five fouls but avoided fouling out.

Rookie Daniel Gafford led the Bulls with 21 points off the bench. Coby White added 13 for the Bulls, who lost their third straight, falling to 4-10.

Cold second half sees Bucks fall to Celtics

October 31, 2019 By Bill Scott

The Boston Celtics outscored the Milwaukee Bucks by 27 points in the second half and went on to post a 116-105 win in Boston.

Kemba Walker scored a game-high 32 points for the Celtics, who improved to 3-1. Jayson Tatum added 25 points and Gordon Hayward had 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Khris Middleton poured in 26 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Bucks dropped to 2-2 on the season.

The Bucks hit 5 of 9 from three-point range in the first half, then went 9 of 36 the rest of the way. The Bucks managed just 34 points in the paint.

The Bucks remaining starters, Eric Bledsoe, Brook Lopez and Wes Matthews combined to hit just 6 of 24 from the field.

As concerning as the Bucks cold spell was, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer was even more concerned with his teams defense, or lack there of it in the second half.

The Bucks are off today and face the Magic in Orlando on Friday night.

Bucks earn comeback win on opening night in Houston

October 25, 2019 By Bill Scott

Giannis Antetokounmpo – File Photo

The Milwaukee Bucks trailed for most of the game, but a late rally allowed them to pull out a 117-111 win over the Rockets in Houston in their season opener.

Giannis Antetokounmpo ended up fouling out with five-minutes left to play in the game, but Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Ersan Ilyasova and Wesley Matthews came through in the clutch to pull out the win. Giannis finished with a triple-double, 30 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.

Brook Lopez had 14 points and four rebounds, Ersan Ilyasova had 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Bucks hit 16 of 46 three pointers.

Russell Westbrook led the Rockets with 24 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists. James Harden added 19 points, 14 assists and 7 rebounds.

The Bucks trailed by as many as 16 points at halftime and didn’t take their first lead until midway through the fourth quarter.

The Bucks return to Milwaukee to play their home opener on Saturday afternoon (4 p.m.) against the Miami Heat at Fiserv Forum.

Bledsoe set for Bucks opener in Houston

October 23, 2019 By Bill Scott

When Milwaukee Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe left the court on October 9 with an injury, it was feared that he wouldn’t be ready to return for the start of the regular season.

At the time, it was believed that Bledsoe suffered an oblique injury, but instead, it was cracked cartilage in his rib cage.

After going through the majority of practice on Saturday, he followed that with a full practice on Tuesday. Now Bledsoe has been cleared to play and start the season opener against the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.

Bledsoe’s return means the Bucks are 100% healthy for the opener as Mike Budenholzer has his entire 15-player roster available. He’ll start Bledsoe, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and newcomer Wes Matthews. Matthews takes over at the shooting guard spot after Malcolm Brogdon was traded to the Indiana Pacers in July.

That group hasn’t had a lot of time together in preseason games, but they’ve spent considerable time working together in practice. We’ll see how well that translates to regular season game action starting Thursday night.

Bucks cruise past Utah in exhibition home opener

October 10, 2019 By Bill Scott

Giannis Antetokounmpo – File Photo

After not playing many of their regulars on Monday night in Chicago, the Milwaukee Bucks used their starters on Wednesday night and cruised to a 133-99 win over the Utah Jazz at Fiserv Forum.

Giannis Antetokounmpo took the ball to the rim time after time, getting multiple dunks to finish with 22 points 11 rebounds and four assists in 20+ minutes of playing time.

Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez added 14 points each. Wes Matthews joined the starters on Wednesday night and finished with eight points, three rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes.

Donte DiVincenzo bounced back from a poor shooting night in Chicago on Monday by scoring 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting. He added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Kyle Korver played his first game for the Bucks and took three shots, making all three of his three-pointers for nine points. Thanasis Antetokounmpo also finished with 9 points and five rebounds.

Bucks starting point guard Eric Bledsoe did leave the game in the second quarter with an oblique strain. The Bucks are hoping that’s an injury that won’t keep him out long.

The Bucks are 2-0 in exhibition play and will travel to Dallas to face the Mavericks on Friday night.

Bucks open preseason with victory over Bulls in Chicago

October 8, 2019 By Bill Scott

Playing without a number of their regulars, the Milwaukee Bucks opened the exhibition season with a 122-112 win over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, Ersan Ilyasova and Kyle Korver all skipped Monday night’s game, as did D.J. Wilson who missed the game with a strained left hamstring.

Both Brook and Robin Lopez did suit up and play for the Bucks. Robin Lopez led the Bucks with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in 19 minutes. Brook Lopez had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in 18 1/2 minutes.

The Bucks also got 12 points and 9 rebounds from Sterling Brown. Point guard Frank Mason III started at point guard and scored 14 points with six assists and four steals in 27 minutes.

Thanasis Antetokounmpo had nine points and 10 rebounds.

The Bucks return home to host the Utah Jazz at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday night.

Bucks part company with Malcolm Brogdon

July 1, 2019 By Bill Scott

The Milwaukee Bucks were active with the official start of free agency underway on Sunday.

All-star Khris Middleton will sign a five year, $178 million dollar deal to remain with the Bucks. The negotiating period started Sunday and the contracts can become official on July 6th.

Bucks center Brook Lopez agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal.

Veteran guard George Hill was released by the team earlier, then agreed to a lesser deal, three years worth $29 million.

Those deals came at a price. With guard Malcolm Brogdon set to become a restricted free agent, the Bucks sent him to the Indiana Pacers for a first and pair of second round draft picks next year. Brogdon gets a four year deal worth $85 million from the Pacers.

The Bucks could have matched any potential offer from another NBA team for Brogdon, who was a restricted free agent. But the salary cap was going to be an issue and to a certain extent, still is. Somebody had to go and to the Bucks ownership, it made the most sense to deal Brogdon.

Brogdon will certainly be missed, signing Hill helps. They’ll need to get last seasons top draft pick, Donte DiVincenzo, as well as returning players Sterling Brown and Pat Connaughton to step up their game to make up for Brogdon’s departure.

Getting Middleton to return, as well as Lopez in the middle, will go a long way towards helping the Bucks take another run at an NBA title.

Lopez and Middleton selected to attend National Team Training Camp

June 10, 2019 By Bill Scott

Milwaukee Bucks standouts Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton will participate in USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team training camp from Aug. 5-9 in Las Vegas. The 20-man roster for training camp will be used to select the finalists for the 12-man 2019 USA World Cup Team that will participate in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 that tips-off on Aug. 31 in China.

Middleton, who was named to the USA Men’s National Team roster in April of 2018, was an All-Star last season and averaged 18.3 points and career-highs in both rebounds (6.0) and assists (4.3) per game. He also shot 44.1% from the field and 37.8% from three, appearing and starting in 77 games for the Bucks as they won an NBA high 60 games.

Lopez is one of six additions to the USA Men’s National Team roster for training camp. Last season, Lopez started 81 games for the Bucks and averaged 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 blocks (4th in the NBA) and 1.2 assists per game. He also set the NBA record for 3-pointers made by a center in a season with 187 and became the first player in NBA history to tally 150+ threes and 150+ blocks in a single season.

Milwaukee is one of just three teams (Houston and Portland) to have multiple players selected to the USA National Team roster for training camp.

The official, 12-member roster for the 2019 USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Team will be announced on August 17.

Bucks falter down the stretch drop ECF’s to Toronto

May 26, 2019 By Bill Scott

The Milwaukee Bucks led by as many as 15 points late in the third quarter on Saturday night before falling to the Toronto Raptors 100-94 in game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. The result gave the Raptors the series win four games to two and the right to face the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

After going down 15, Toronto answered with a 26-3 run. The Raptors took their largest lead at 87-79 with 6 minutes, 45 seconds left.

The Bucks bounced back with a 7-0 run but never did quite make it all the way back.

Kawhi Leonard had 27 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Raptors.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks. Brook Lopez added 18 and Khris [Read more…]