The Milwaukee Bucks opened the season 9-0 without former All-Star Khris Middleton. The loss against the Atlanta Hawks, with whom they played despite the absence of Trae Young, put a stop to the Bucks’ winning run.
The Bucks might have coasted to an easy victory, but the Hawks’ spirited defense, spearheaded by Dejounte Murray, held them to under 100 points and successfully prevented that. The Bucks led by 11 after the first quarter but never scored more than 22 points again, yet the Hawks came back with a solid third period to pull off the 98-117 victory.
Best start in team history is just the beginning. pic.twitter.com/fFZbqZBFlW
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 8, 2022
The win streak is over for Milwaukee after a blowout against the Hawks without Trae Young… đ pic.twitter.com/PIWEu7uJYP
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 8, 2022
Dejounte Murray tonight:
25 PTS
8 REB
11 AST
3 STLBeat the undefeated Bucks without Trae. pic.twitter.com/KkAFdjyfAh
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 8, 2022
The Hawks are off to their best start since 2016-17.
In Atlanta franchise history, the Hawks have never missed the playoffs when starting the season 7-3 or better.
— Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) November 8, 2022
Although Dejounte Murray showed excellent leadership today, several other Hawks players also made significant improvements. Murray led the team with 25 points, and he was followed by freshman A.J. Griffin, who recorded his first 20-point game. While on the bench, Onyeka Okongwu was able to give solid protection against Giannis.
A 9-1 record after the first ten games of the season is an excellent start. There’s a lot of space for the Bucks to fine-tune their system and continue to drop close games like this one. However, this was a poor showing that exposed more systemic issues that might trouble them in a postseason series.
After a hot start to the game, Milwaukee’s offense looked to stall down in the second quarter. Giannis had another great game, but he has been performing better and willfully helping the Bucks win games as of late. The Bucks lost because he couldn’t pull it off today.
The Bucks would have significantly benefited from having Khris Middleton on the floor tonight, but if they can get beyond this setback, they will have a bright future.
