Bucks 92, Nuggets 74

Michael Carter-Williams may not be considered a bench player, but he stood out in his new role Monday night, keying a 92-74 Bucks victory over Denver. Milwaukee took control of the proceedings in the second half, and Carter-Williams finished the game with a nicely balanced stat line (12 points, six rebounds, nine assists, three steals and three blocks). With Henson and Carter-Williams on the floor providing a boost, the Bucks took their seven-point lead after three quarters to 89-67 when Henson and Carter-Williams left the game with just over three and a half minutes to go. In 16 games off the bench this season, Vasquez is averaging 7.1 points on 34.8 percent shooting and is 14-for-54 (25.9 percent) on 3-point attempts….

If they can at least stay competitive against the Spurs, who have the best scoring defense in the league, the Bucks might leave Texas feeling like they’ve turned the corner after their subpar start to the season. Everybody had some moments, but no Nuggets were able to sustain any amount of energy or results to truly impact the game. They’re 6-11 to start the 2015-16 season, which is even more disappointing when you remember they were 30-23 last season with Knight as their starting point guard.

The Milwaukee Bucks made lineup changes in order to alleviate their defensive woes, though it didn’t prevent a sixth loss in seven games.

It’s far too early to say that trade was a mistake, but it’s pretty clear that between Knight, the Lakers’ protected pick and MCW, Milwaukee’s gotten the short end of the stick.

After the game, Nuggets coach Mike Malone said, “We’re one of the poorer shooting teams in the National Basketball Association, one of the poorer finishing teams in the National Basketball Association. So now we get back out on the road against a very talented team in San Antonio, so we’re gonna need that defense to compete and win on the road”.

Milwaukee found a little more firepower in the fourth quarter and built the lead all the way up to 22. He began his career as the future of the rebuilding Philadelphia 76ers, but maybe they saw something in him they knew wasn’t right, and passed him off to the Bucks.

With the money they saved on Knight, the Bucks got one of the most high profile free agency acquisitions in franchise history in Greg Monroe, a move that was supposed to bolster the offense thanks to a defense that could hide his flaws on that end. “So it is frustrating, nobody likes to lose, we all hate to lose but you lose six games in a row, that gets old after a while”.

Danilo Gallinari led Denver with 13.