Jamaree Bouyea called game!
The Milwaukee Bucks took down the Denver Nuggets in what ended up being a 90-89 barn-burner to open up Summer League play. Jamaree Bouyea (13 points, five assists) hit a game winner as time expired to give the Bucks the win. Chris Livingston and Cormac Ryan led the Bucks with 18 points, while DaRon Holmes II had 15 for Denver.
Game Recap
The Bucks started the game with Jamaree Bouyea, Andre Jackson Jr., Chris Livingston, Tyler Smith, and Pete Nance. The Nuggets rolled out Reece Beekman, Hunter Tyson, Spencer Jones, DaRon Holmes II, and Tyrell Harrison.
Hunter Tyson, a 6’8” wing, scored the first basket of the game on a deep post-up against a smaller Jamaree Bouyea, while Andre Jackson got things started for the Bucks by swishing a corner three. After that, the game turned into a rock fight for a while, with lots of shots clanking off the back iron. First game jitters were definitely in effect. The Bucks were aggressive on defense early, applying pressure and getting some deflections. Milwaukee’s first sub of the game was undrafted wing Cormac Ryan, a surprising choice, but the former Tar Heel banged his first triple of the game after flying off a down screen. Ryan quickly caught fire after that and knocked down two threes, a middie, and a free throw to give him nine points. His shooting earned him an AJ Green comp from the commentating crew. Denver ran some big lineups throughout the quarter, and their size gave the Bucks some trouble inside on both ends. Overall, though, the first period had the classic clunky Summer League feel, and the score was 19-18, Bucks, through one.
To start the second quarter, Stanley Umude made a surprise appearance in Milwaukee’s lineup despite not being listed on the official roster, and he connected on a three-ball and a turnaround fadeaway right off the bat. Milwaukee and Denver traded blows for a long time, with neither team able to mount a sustained run. Then, Bouyea hit a contested three from a few feet behind the arc halfway through the period that sparked a 12-0 run for the Bucks. Despite some boneheaded turnovers, they sustained momentum for a while, with some help coming in the form of the Nuggets missing chippies. Tyson ended Denver’s four-minute scoreless streak with an and-one leaner. Pete Nance splashed a wing three against some zone defense with under 30 seconds left, putting the Bucks ahead 11 before Tyrell Harrison hit two free throws to set the score at 46-37 at the break. Tyson and Ryan paced their respective teams with 11 points apiece at the half. The recently waived Chris Livingston added nine points, two boards, and two assists.
An injury update from Eric Nehm of The Athletic came at halftime: two-way point guard Mark Sears was out with a calf strain, explaining his absence from the lineup up to that point.
DaRon Holmes had a strong finish off a drive to kick off the scoring in the second half. Then, Reece Beekman twirled through Jackson for an and-one lay, cutting Milwaukee’s advantage in half. Denver went on an 11-1 push, nearly capturing the lead before Nance drained a three-ball to calm the storm a little. More back-and-forth basketball ensued, with every trip up the court feeling like opening a mystery box. Would we see a fun highlight or an ugly lowlight? Denver’s Curtis Jones (who finished with eight points in the quarter) confidently connected on a pair of jumpers from the right corner before Tamar Bates completed an and-one, capping off a 9-0 run that gave the Nuggets their first lead of the half. Malik Williams then put in five points in the last minute, and the score was tied 64-64 heading into the final quarter.
The game stayed within one possession until the 8:20 mark, when Boo Buie banked in a floater to put Denver up five. Tyler Smith finally hit his first field goal of the night, a left-wing three, two minutes later, but he clanked a couple of free throws shortly after. It just wasn’t the lefty’s night. The Bucks kept things close for a while, but hope was slipping away as the team fell apart on defense. Then, Livingston, Jackson, and Bouyea stroked back-to-back-to-back threes, and Milwaukee rallied behind that run to tie things up. With under ten seconds left, Denver missed two fadeaway jumpers on the same possession, but E.J. Liddell turned the second one into a putback slam. It felt like a dagger, but it wasn’t. As the final buzzer sounded, two-way guard Jamaree Bouyea called game with a tough stepback three. What a moment for him, and what an ending to Milwaukee’s first Summer League game.
Stat That Stood Out
Cormac Ryan was the surprise hero of this game, and he finished with a +16 plus/minus, which was by far the highest +/- of any player on either team. His hot shooting was key in the first quarter, and he made some big plays in the fourth, too. If he keeps stringing together performances like this, he may earn himself a two-way contract in Milwaukee or elsewhere.
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