Bucks look to keep semifinal hopes alive against Jordan Miller and the Clippers
After splitting their first two games of Summer League, the Milwaukee Bucks will play the third of their four initial games, taking on the 1-0 Los Angeles Clippers. The Bucks dropped their second game to the Cleveland Cavaliers yesterday and need a win if they are going to have a chance to make it to the semifinal round.
Where We’re At
After winning game one of their Summer League campaign in dramatic fashion against the Denver Nuggets (thanks to a Jamaree Bouyea game-winning three-pointer), the Bucks fell to their division rival, the Cleveland Cavaliers. 2023 second-round pick Chris Livingston built on his strong performance from game one by leading the Bucks in scoring (21), rebounding (nine), and assists (five). Bouyea also put in a strong performance with 20 points, four rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Bogoljub Markovic scored his first Summer League points, putting in five for the game in 11:35 of playing time. There weren’t many positive performances outside of that, as Tyler Smith and Andre Jackson Jr. continued to struggle, as well as undrafted wing Cormac Ryan going 1/7.
The Clippers also won their first Summer League contest in a game that went down to the wire against the Houston Rockets. Los Angeles led Houston 91-83 with 1:55 to play, yet the Rockets wouldn’t go down quietly, going on a 9-3 run to bring the game within two points with four seconds left. The final possessions after Zavier Simpson (who finished with nine points, five assists, three blocks, and two steals) hit the second of his two free throws to make it a three-point game were chaotic, to say the least. The Rockets ended up committing a five-second violation with two seconds left, but then Kobe Sanders turned over the ball on the next play, leading to a Trentyn Flowers loose-ball foul on Kennedy Chandler. Yet, Chandler missed both free throws, and the Clippers held on for a three-point win, 95-92. The recently waived Jordan Miller led the Clips with a 23-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Cam Christie had 21.
Injury Report
Mark Sears has yet to play, dealing with a left calf strain as Eric Nehm of The Athletic reports. Meanwhile, for the Clippers, Kobe Brown battled through an ankle injury in their win and seems ready to go against the Bucks, according to SL head coach Jeremy Castleberry.
Player To Watch
Tyler Smith is the one guy to watch out for, and it’s for all the wrong reasons right now. After showing some development during his offseason training, Summer League has been a different story for the former second-round pick. In his first two games, he is shooting an abysmal 3/16 from the field (18.7%) for a total of 11 points.
I won’t say that it’s over for him as an NBA player. Plenty of good NBA players have struggled in the Summer League. Yet, it’s concerning to see him struggling to score, while the guy the Bucks cut, Chris Livingston, had 18 points against the Nuggets and 21 against the Cavaliers.
How To Watch
FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and NBA TV at 8:30 p.m. CDT.
Playback Streaming
new Playback.Embed(“playback-embed”, {
room: “brewhoop”,
style: { height: “100%”, width: “100%” },
});
Support our site! | BreakingT | ESPN+ | ESPN+ 30 For 30 | fuboTV | Disney+