The Milwaukee Bucks finally pulled off a win against the Brooklyn Nets in Game 3, but they did it almost in spite of themselves. After a hot early start with 30 points in the first quarter, the wheels grinded to a halt and they only scored 56 points combined in the final three quarters.
All of this against the ninth-worst defense in the NBA in the regular season. The Bucks have to feel fortunate that they have a win in this series, but they won’t likely catch the Nets looking this bad again. In fact, if the Nets didn’t play one of the worst offensive games of their season (88 points was their regular-season low against the Utah Jazz), the Bucks would have been staring down the barrel of a blowout loss and an 0-3 hole.
The Milwaukee Bucks pulled off a Game 3 victory against the Brooklyn Nets almost in spite of themselves, but they have big questions to answer.
Any time you hold the NBA’s most lethal offense to 83 points, you deserve credit for a defensive showing. Still, against the Nets, more games like this simply won’t get the job done.
Fortunately for the Bucks, they do have a new lease on life and the opportunity to build on this victory. The difference between an ugly, low-scoring loss and an ugly, low-scoring victory when you’re down 2-0 is stark, and they’re on the right side of the ledger.
Before they can move forward in a productive fashion, though, they’re going to have to address these three questions.