November 9, 2023 Games

Only 2 games today with plenty of games tomorrow as part of the In-Season Tournament

Milwaukee Bucks 121 (5-3) @ Indiana Pacers 124 (6-3)

No Dame tonight for the Bucks so Giannis went to work. He finished with an incredible 54 points. What makes him so valubale and lethal is that once he steps inside the key, there is essentially no stopping him. His footwork has improved every year, allowing him to step his way through defenders and angle his body in the right ways to score. He's also so much stronger than everyone else now that h'e able to overpower them. His performance wasn't enough tonight though. Their defense has been an issue so far this year and was again an issue tonight. They were late on thei help defense and the Pacers were able to capitalize. The Pacers also were able to make some difficult shots, finishing with 20 three pointers made. The Bucks perimeter defense has been a weak point with the loss of Jrue Holiday and Kris Middleton looking slow after his injury. Cameron Payne got the bulk of minutes for the Bucks with Dame out, which didn't help their defensive issues as he is a bit undersized and doesn't make the best defensive reads.

Atlanta Hawks 120 (5-3) @ Orlando Magic 119 (4-4)

This was a fun finish! The Magic could have won but one of the cons of having a young team is not having a steady hand in close games to put the other team away. This means they don't have an experienced player they can give the ball to, when the game is coming to an end, and that player can control the game and lead the team to a win. Today, the Magic had plenty of mistakes down the stretch where they couldn't pull away from the Hawks. In contrast, the Hawks experienced duo of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray combiend at the end to get a go-ahead basket to win the game for them. Trae Young is special in the fact that he is able to maneuver through screens and find the right passses, which he did at the end to set up Murray for the score. The Hawks rely on Clint Capela too much on rebounding, which should be a team effort, but because of this they were out-rebounded by the Magic today who continuously found ways to get the ball. Both teams are growing and are off to good starts. They'll both build their chemistry and find their groove. More so the Magic, who need to find a better flow out there and comfortability with each other.