Giannis, Damian Lillard Bucks star 'awesome' Gary Trent Jr. wins with fierce defense

PHILADELPHIA — Heading into Wednesday's 2024-25 season opener, the Milwaukee Bucks had plenty of reasons to be weak in their first game.

On Tuesday, the Philadelphia 76ers announced that two of their three star players, Joel Embiid and Paul George, will not play. A few hours later, Bucks coach Doc Rivers told the media that his team's third All-Star, Khris Middleton, would not be able to participate while he recovers from offseason procedures to clean up chronic issues in both ankles.

Once the game got underway, the first quarter seemed to carry a subdued mood as the Bucks made just 1 of 7 3-point attempts, committed three early turnovers and the 76ers grabbed six offensive rebounds. The Bucks found themselves behind early.

But the Bucks responded by outscoring the 76ers by 12 points in the second quarter and then pushing the lead to 22 in the second half, en route to an easy 124-109 victory over one of their top rivals in the Eastern Conference.

When asked what changed after the first quarter, their head coach gave a simple answer.

“I think our guys are serious this season,” Rivers said after Wednesday night's win. “You can see it.”

That seriousness was evident in the performances of the Bucks' top statistical performers.

That was clear, with Damian Lillard knocking down six 3-pointers and scoring 30 points through the first three quarters, along with nine rebounds and six assists on the night.

It was on display in Antetokounmpo's opening night tally of 25 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. With six blocks on the night, Brook Lopez proved he was serious about protecting the rim. Freshman Taurean Prince knocked down his first four 3-point attempts of the season.

A truly serious performance, however, requires more attention to detail. And for that, Gary Trent Jr. should highlight All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey's defense.

Without Embiid and George, the 76ers turned the offensive responsibilities over to their lightning-quick 23-year-old point guard, and he responded with 31 shots in 39 minutes. And while the Bucks didn't match Maxie every minute of the game that Trent played every minute, Trent was tasked with keeping up with Maxie for most of the night and competing at an extremely high level.

“Unbelievable,” Antetokounmpo said of Trent's defensive performance. “Defending one of the fastest players in the NBA, full court, always being in front, navigating screens, putting your body on the line is tough, and that's what he did tonight and he was unbelievable. (Maxi) took a lot of shots. He made a lot of shots. He missed a lot of shots, but I think (Trent) was there for every one of them and he did an incredible job.

“He's probably tired.”

Although Trent made no such complaint, no one would have blamed him if he had asked for a few extra bags of ice after Wednesday's game. Trent makes Maxie work for every touch and once Maxie gets the ball in his hands, Trent works every inch to drive him to the basket.

Look at Trent's attempt at one of the first possessions of the game.

The 76ers' inbounds play calls for Maxey to take a dribble handoff from 76ers center Andre Drummond, but Trent gets physical with Maxey and uses his body to push him off the screen. Instead of giving up when Maxey made room on his initial overplay, Trent came back to Maxey for a tight closeout that led to a catch-and-shoot 3. It then attaches itself to Maxie's right hip to force her down. Baseline and help waiting for Antetokounmpo.

Maxey eventually beat Antetokounmpo to the baseline for an attempt at the rim, but Trent did his job.

“That was everything, just keeping the second effort,” Trent said of trying to stay connected to Maxie all night. “Just another strength to keep going, whether it's through illegal screens, guys taking a knee, Kyle Lowry trying to get in my way, different things like that, but just trying to influence the basketball and make him a tough shot.”

Whether it was the first quarter or the fourth quarter, Trent played second- and third-down attempts on defense.

Since Antetokounmpo has become a superstar in the 2018-19 season, starting at shooting guard for the Bucks is a bit of a thankless task.

Playing alongside Antetokounmpo (and now Lillard), this player is expected to knock down open shots and guard the other team's best player every night. Every miss is a shot they “should” make and every big scoring night for the team's best player is something they “should” prevent. It's tough, but on Wednesday night, Trent can do it as well.

“I played with Gary his first three years in the league and his first playoff series, we played a game together against the Lakers in the (NBA) bubble,” Lillard said. “They started him on LeBron James and nobody can guard LeBron, but his assignment tells you that. He may not have a reputation for it, but I've seen him do it. I've played with him, I've seen him in practice, and I've seen him in a lot of games where I know he's capable of doing it. He cares about it.

“Tonight, he came on a mission. He knows what his role is on our team, he knows what we need to win, and I think for the first time tonight, we showed that he's committed to doing that. Guarding a guy that's quick, that's explosive, can shoot, goes both ways, constantly has the ball, and he was there for the whole game. This is the kind of effort we need.”

And while trying much of what the role requires, adding strategy to that effort greatly increases the importance of the work. And Trent brought that high-level focus to his efforts on Wednesday as well.

Since arriving in Milwaukee, Lopez has been one of the NBA's best defensive big men in drop pick-and-roll coverage. But in his best moments, like Wednesday when he blocked six shots, Lopez quickly noticed the importance of his defensive pick-and-roll partners. One thing he has always found most helpful is the on-ball defender who forces the ballhandler to make decisions as quickly as possible.

In drop pick-and-roll coverage, the big man is backpedaling toward the basket while knowing that the ballhandler can either take the shot or dump it to their pick-and-roll partner in what is known in common NBA parlance as “playing to.” The best point guards keep their options open as long as possible and force the big man to “play two” until the last minute. For example, imagine Trae Young hanging in the air on a floater in the lane or Clint Capela on a late lob.

That was fine, but check out Trent (and Lillard as a help defender) on this first-quarter possession:

Although Trent is initially picked off by Gershon Yabusel's dribble handoff, he quickly connects with Maxey with help from Lillard, which forces Maxey to start his collection at the rim at the top of the key:

With Maxey's dribble no longer alive, Lopez moved to the rim and aggressively attacked the rim guard's attempt, knowing his only possible play without a shot would be an acrobatic kick-out for the 32 percent career 3-point shooter. . Trent's efforts to get back into the game and forcing Maxi to pick up his dribble early helped Lopez become a bigger stopper at the rim.

“I thought he was great,” Lopez said of Trent. “He has all the tools to be great for us defensively and has the right mentality. He was great all night disrupting them, making things difficult for them, and like I said. , that's the point of attack, that's the start of our defense. When he's great, it rubs off on everyone else.”

In the fourth quarter, Trent did something similar on this play:

By staying connected to Maxey and swiping the ball around the elbow, Trent forces Maxey to take his dribble earlier than he wants to and allows Lopez to attack the shot with a big swat, making it a more difficult shot in the lane. Without delaying a step, Lopez protects the rim a step earlier and it's due to Trent's careful effort on Maxi.

Too often, these types of plays were missing from the Bucks' defensive efforts last season.

“He was great,” Rivers said of Trent. “Physical. Tough.”

It was only one game, but Trent brought the type of on-ball defense the Bucks lacked throughout much of last season. If the Bucks want to return to a top-10 defensive team this season, they need to be consistent and serious on offense, just like they were on opening night.

(Gary Trent Jr. photo: David Dow/Getty Images via NBAE)