Bucks topple Pacers

It is Monday morning, I am back home, 37 miles per gallon in spite of two adults, a toddler, a baby, two dogs and luggage. I stayed off the internet at gas breaks and the radio during game action, the following was written ahead of knowledge of the outcomes of the games in Milwaukee and Oklahoma City.

3. MILWAUKEE VS. 6. PACERS

BUCKS

Prediction: 52-30, tied for No. 2 in East
Actual: 49-33, No. 3 in the East

What went wrong: Damian Lillard was something less than a savior. He did his part, wasn’t Dame’s fault, but Jrue Holiday meant more to winning than we gave Jrue’s defense credit for.

This offense was meant to alight yet it topped out at No. 6, meanwhile the defense dipped from fourth in the NBA to a looks-worse No. 19. Lillard worked 73 games but owned the ball less, presumed late-game theatrics weren’t enough to drag the Bucks past a pedestrian No. 12 point differential, down from fifth.

Adrian Griffin won 30 out of 43 games with the team, was fired, his replacement went 17-19 and his replacement is Doc Rivers, yet most consider the move an upgrade.

C: Brook Lopez — nobody can score around this guy and he just turned 36. Brook was the worst defensive center (Non Enes Division) in his 20s and the most effective pivot and paint defender in the NBA during his 30s. Bob McAdoo and Caldwell Jones in the same career.