The Milwaukee Bucks suffered a surprising 111-105 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, but the game will be remembered more for one of the most baffling defensive decisions of the season than the final score. Down 105-102 with less than a minute remaining, the Bucks made a shocking choice to double-team Ben Simmons at the three-point line—a player who has notoriously avoided attempting threes throughout his career.
Doubling Ben Simmons at the 3 with the game on the line LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/oNXlacTz2A
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) December 27, 2024
This strategic blunder left Cam Johnson wide open, and he capitalized by hitting a crucial three-pointer, drawing a foul in the process, and converting a four-point play to put the Nets up 109-102 with just 48 seconds left. That effectively sealed the game.
The Bucks’ decision to treat Simmons like a sharpshooter was inexplicable. Over his career, Simmons has attempted only 36 three-pointers, making just five, and he hasn’t hit a single three since the 2020-21 season. His career three-point shooting percentage sits at a woeful 13.9%.
The proper strategy would have been to give Simmons space and challenge him to shoot from beyond the arc. If Simmons had decided to take a three, the Bucks would have had the advantage of a likely missed shot and a potential defensive rebound. Instead, Milwaukee inexplicably sent Bobby Portis and AJ Green to trap, leaving Cam Johnson completely unguarded.
The player they left open, Cam Johnson, is having the best season of his career. He entered the game averaging 19.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists while shooting 49.2% from the field and a blistering 42.9% from beyond the arc. Johnson has been attempting a career-high 7.6 three-pointers per game and converting 3.2 of them on average. To leave such a lethal shooter unguarded at a pivotal moment in the game was a catastrophic lapse in judgment.
The sequence was devastating for the Bucks. With just 10 seconds left on the shot clock, the Nets seemed poised to take a contested shot, but the Bucks’ ill-conceived double-team gave Johnson a clean look. Johnson’s three-pointer, coupled with the foul, turned a one-possession game into a seven-point deficit. That swing completely deflated Milwaukee’s chances of a comeback and handed Brooklyn the win.
The Bucks played without their two stars, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, who were sidelined with illness and injury, respectively. While Khris Middleton (21 points), Brook Lopez (20 points), and Bobby Portis (18 points) stepped up offensively, the team’s decision-making in crunch time was sorely lacking. Coach Doc Rivers lamented the mental errors after the game, highlighting the team’s turnovers and poor defensive execution.
Doubling Simmons at the three-point line demonstrated a lack of situational awareness. With Simmons averaging just 6.0 points per game this season and being no threat from deep, the Bucks’ decision was not only unnecessary but detrimental. In contrast, a player like Cam Johnson, who has proven himself as a reliable shooter, should have been the defensive priority.
This game serves as a reminder of the importance of defensive discipline, especially in high-stakes moments. The Bucks, now 16-13, have the talent to contend in the Eastern Conference, but mental lapses like this could prove costly in tighter matchups. As the team looks to bounce back, Rivers and his staff must address these lapses to ensure such mistakes don’t happen again.
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