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MILWAUKEE — For the first time all preseason, Milwaukee Bucks coach Adrian Griffin was able to put in his expected starting lineup for the regular season. Damian Lillard, Malik Beasley, Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo only shared the floor for the first three minutes of the game, but they managed to get a few reps collectively before the Bucks wrapped up their preseason with a 124-116 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

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Despite telling reporters that he still feels “rusty” after the game, Antetokounmpo once again led the Bucks with 26 points (12-of-18 shooting), seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 27 minutes. Lillard hit just two of his nine 3-point attempts but still ended Friday’s game with 19 points, five rebounds and two assists.

While the focus often has been on the Bucks’ superstar duo this preseason, Friday’s game offered three important topics for fans to consider going into the regular season.

Khris Middleton’s preseason debut

It took longer than expected, but three-time All-Star Khris Middleton made his preseason debut Friday. He played 12 minutes in the first half but did not return in the second half.

“It was good,” Middleton told reporters after the game. “It was a good first run. Felt fine, felt great. Wish I got more minutes, but I’ll get there.”

Middleton confirmed that 12 minutes was what was expected before the game, so everything went according to the plan the team gave him. In those minutes, Middleton went just 2 of 6 from the field for five points, but he also tallied five assists, which tied him for the team lead.

“I felt great during those stretches,” Middleton said. “Felt like I was myself out there. Now I just gotta get used to different spots on the floor, the rhythm of the offense (and) the defensive side, too, moving my feet a little bit better. All in all, I thought it was a great night.”

With the Bucks’ big three playing together in just one preseason game and Middleton only playing 12 minutes Friday, how Griffin assembles a regular-season rotation remains to be seen. But against the Grizzlies, Griffin subbed out Antetokounmpo after just three minutes to set up a staggered pattern with Antetokounmpo and Lillard.

On the first play after Antetokounmpo left the floor, Griffin dialed up an offensive set for Middleton, who attacked off a screen from Brook Lopez and created space for himself for a vintage midrange jumper.

Welcome back Khash Money! 💰 pic.twitter.com/mpGhNx9q0q

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) October 21, 2023

Middleton’s scoring didn’t stand out, but his playmaking did. During a portion of the second quarter, he brought the ball up, which put Lillard into an off-ball position.

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With two elite floor spacers in Beasley and Lillard occupying help defenders and Jae Crowder in the dunker spot, Middleton and Lopez worked in a two-man game in the middle of the court. With so much space to work, the Grizzlies’ help defenders eventually decided to show some help, and Middleton made them pay with a quick pass to Beasley.

Because Middleton’s time was limited, there were only glimpses of the Bucks’ full offensive potential, but the play above is the type that could drive defenses insane this season. If Antetokounmpo had been on the court instead of Crowder, the defensive coverage would have remained the same.

In ranking the Bucks’ best offensive players in the starting unit, those in the play above would be options three through five — and yet, Middleton is a proven, high-level NBA playmaker, Lopez is a high-level roll man and Beasley is an elite catch-and-shoot threat. These are the conundrums the Bucks can cause for defenses that will do everything in their power to take away Antetokounmpo and Lillard.

Look at the Grizzlies’ options on this play:

• Give Middleton space off the dribble handoff to create a midrange jumper for himself, as he did on his first basket of the preseason.
• Trap Middleton on the dribble handoff and have Lopez roll free to the rim because Lillard needs attention in the backside corner.
• Bring help off Beasley and leave open an elite catch-and-shoot 3-point threat.

The Grizzlies chose the third option, and Beasley made them pay. The Bucks’ spacing on the play wasn’t even ideal — they were bunched too tightly together — but it didn’t matter. Middleton saw the help defender leaning slightly out of position and hit Beasley on the left wing.

It is going to take a while for the Bucks to get everything right and find a true rhythm together offensively with a new coach and two new players in the starting lineup, but their offensive potential is staggering.

Highs and lows of 3-point defense

Griffin has made it clear the Bucks are going to be more aggressive on defense this season. Rather than try to corral offensive players into preferable places as they did under former head coach Mike Budenholzer, they are going to try to make offenses uncomfortable.

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Per Basketball Reference, Jaren Jackson Jr. has made five or more 3-pointers in 11 of the 267 games he’s played in his five-year career. Two of those games came against the Bucks, including a performance on Dec. 13, 2019, when Jackson hit a career-high nine 3-pointers on 15 attempts.

Against the Bucks over the years, Jackson was able to get quite comfortable behind the 3-point line. That was not the case on Friday.

This possession ended with Marcus Smart hitting a pump-fake, side-step 3-pointer as the shot clock expired. That’s a deflating 3-pointer to surrender, but the possession helped show some of what the Bucks want to do on defense this season.

Lopez’s block on Jackson’s first 3-pointer is a spectacular contest, but his effort on the play did not stop there. After blocking the shot, he helped to slow down the driver and then aggressively sprinted out to the corner. Right or wrong, this is not something Lopez would have done last season under Budenholzer.

Also, it’s worth noting that when Lopez ran Jackson off the 3-point line, Antetokounmpo stepped into the void and created a switch situation between the Bucks’ two big men. This is something we have seen throughout the preseason. While the Bucks have switched every on-ball action with all five players on the floor at times this preseason, as they did in Oklahoma City, they have typically opted to have like-sized players switch like Lopez and Antetokounmpo (or Beasley and Lillard). These types of switches have allowed the Bucks to force greater defensive pressure throughout the preseason.

But while the above first-quarter possession might be seen as “good process, bad result” 3-point defense, there were two instances Friday where Griffin called a timeout immediately after the Grizzlies hit a 3-pointer because of poor execution from his defense.

The first came after this Luke Kennard basket in the second quarter:

The possession actually started with a bit of good, aggressive defense. Beasley did a nice job chasing Kennard off the 3-point line, and even if it was a bit unorthodox, Cameron Payne followed that with a strong contest after Kennard’s pump fake left Beasley out of position. Middleton scrambled well to cover the left wing, and Robin Lopez closed out well on Jackson. But then Payne left Kennard to help on the drive and ultimately got beat when the close-out was too long.

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In the fourth quarter, Griffin called a timeout immediately after a David Roddy 3 to talk with MarJon Beauchamp about a defensive mistake.

In this situation, Beauchamp simply didn’t close out hard enough to Roddy.

“What I didn’t like was our closing out short to shooters, especially after they’ve shown they were hot,” Griffin said of his problems with the 3-point defense. “They were knocking them down, and they were really good shooters. You can’t close short to shooters. You gotta be there on the catch, chest to chest, make them bounce to the sideline, make them go to a second or third option.

“I thought we were a bit stubborn with adjusting to the way they were shooting the ball. Sometimes, teams get really hot and you gotta apply a little bit more pressure and make them do something else. Make them put it on the floor. Make them finish at the rim, or make them make another decision. But that’s correctable. I thought overall, the effort was there. We just gotta clean up a few things.”

Beauchamp helps secure the win

When most of the Bucks’ top rotation players were out of the game to start the fourth quarter, the Bucks were down 94-85. In the final quarter, the reserves outscored the Grizzlies 39-22 to help secure the victory. Beauchamp was a big part of that, scoring 15 of his 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter.

“He basically won the game for us,” Antetokounmpo said. “He came in the fourth quarter, made plays, shot 3s. He wanted it, and it’s always awesome to see that, guys playing with a chip on their shoulder and guys just being aggressive. Don’t take nothing for granted, trying to earn every single thing on the court. That’s what I saw from him today.”

While Beauchamp only made one basket in the third quarter, the shot made with Antetokounmpo on the floor exemplified how the second-year wing can affect games for the Bucks.

Beauchamp attacked an offensive rebound, and even though he didn’t corral the miss, he kept it alive like Pat Connaughton and TyTy Washington Jr. did. After making that hustle play, Beauchamp sprinted to the left wing and got his feet set for a pass from Antetokounmpo.

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When he caught the ball, Beauchamp was decisive. He rose and buried the jumper.

“I feel like the first couple games, I was hesitating on my shot and not believing in it,” Beauchamp said. “I was actually in the gym with my dad, and he was the one that taught me how to shoot, so I had to tweak some little things with my footwork and jump a little higher on my shot. You can see the rhythm. It was different than the other games. I just gotta stick to it, keep working on that, keep being decisive.”

Throughout the first four games of the preseason, Beauchamp tried to do a little too much offensively while with the reserves. Rather than attempt catch-and-shoot 3-point looks, he was trying to get into the lane and create for others. While those lineups might need someone to spearhead them, an open catch-and-shoot look is always going to be a good option.

HIMChamp 👑

🔥 @paysbig pic.twitter.com/2J7IhmIXxI

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) October 21, 2023

Being decisive led to good things for Beauchamp on Friday, and that will be his best way on the floor once the regular season begins, as well.

(Photo of Khris Middleton: Gary Dineen / NBAE via Getty Images)

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