Brayden Burries did everything a rookie can do on a bad team. He scored, rebounded, passed, and still lost. The No. 10 overall pick put up 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in 38 minutes Friday night, all career highs, in a 121-107 NBA Cup loss to the Raptors. It was his first career double-double. It also came in the middle of a fifth straight defeat for a Bucks team that is now 1-8.
Bucks Rookie Career Night: Brayden Burries Goes for 21 and 11
Burries attacked the glass from the opening tip. He grabbed six rebounds in a frenzied first quarter, four of them offensive, and that energy carried the Bucks early. By halftime he had 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting and seven boards, a career high before the break.
He finished 8-of-14 from the field and made just one of five from three-point range. The damage came inside, with 14 of his points in the paint. That’s the kind of scoring that travels from night to night, because it doesn’t depend on a hot shooting stretch.
A Rookie Guard Who Rebounds Like a Big Man
Burries wasn’t a starter when the season began. Coach Taylor Jenkins put him in the lineup over Ryan Rollins after a 1-5 start, and the No. 10 pick out of Arizona has been in the first five since. He pulled down nine rebounds in that first start at Minnesota. Friday he got 11.
Since the switch he’s averaging 13.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists a game. For a guard, those rebounding numbers aren’t luck. They’re hunger.
Milwaukee Still Falls Apart After Halftime
The early energy was real. Toronto trailed by as many as 15, and the Raptors were missing Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley. Then they outscored Milwaukee 70-47 in the second half, and the game was gone.
Burries himself went from 15 points before the break to six after it. Tyler Herro had 23 points and 10 assists, Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14 and Kyle Kuzma 13, but the result was the same. Milwaukee’s 1-8 record is its slowest start since 1993-94, when the Bucks lost 10 of their first 11 and finished 20-62.
Burries Is Milwaukee’s Best Reason to Keep Watching
One good night doesn’t fix 1-8. It does give Milwaukee something to build on. Burries got into the paint, cleaned the glass and found open teammates, and those are habits that stick.
If the Bucks are going to find anything in this season, a Bucks rookie career night like this one is where it starts.
Bucks Rookie Career Night Hides the Real Problem in Milwaukee