NBA Scores 2018: The Bucks are on the rise and 8 other things from Tuesday night

Watch out for the Bucks. Since they fired Jason Kidd, they are 8-2 and have looked outright dominant.

On Tuesday, they beat the Atlanta Hawks, 97-92, after a late push by Atlanta to get back into the game. The score was not as close as it indicates, though, and they managed to beat Atlanta soundly with Giannis Antetokounmpo scoring just 15 points.

So what gives? The Bucks look like a completely different team since Kidd was fired. On the surface it appears they’ve just gotten healthy. Jabari Parker is back from last season’s Torn ACL and Khris Middleton is playing better alongside Antetokounmpo after a slow start to his season.

But in that same span, their defense has been picking opponents to shreds. They’ve got the league’s best defense with a 97 defensive rating over the last 10 games. They’ve also got the league’s fifth best net rating in that span of 10.

Obviously, the sample size is small from the Bucks but the results are encouraging. They overtook the Wizards for the fourth seed in the conference with their win over the Hawks and they’re continuing to rise.

If they finish with homecourt, watch out. No one wants to see Antetokounmpo in May. That’s a scary sight for the rest of the conference.

It’s not quite time to panic for the Thunder yet, but after Tuesday’s loss against the Cavaliers it might be time to rethink a few things.

They’ve lost a few close games to the Wizards, Lakers, Pelicans, and Nuggets. They lost to the Nuggets on a game winner by Gary Harris after trailing for most of the game, lost to the Pelicans with DeMarcus Cousins still healthy and in the lineup, and then had two clunkers against the Wizards and Lakers. Then, after those, both Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony were out for a few games with respective injuries.

The biggest issue with the Thunder is they haven’t been healthy. Andre Roberson may have been their best defender and he’s out for the season. And losing two key players like Westbrook and Anthony doesn’t solve anything.

Still, these are games the Thunder need. They’re fighting for homecourt advantage with the Timberwolves and are two games behind them in the standings. Roberson isn’t coming back and they’ll have to figure things out defensively one way or another.

The all-star break is literally in a few days. They’ve got to take that time and regroup or they’ll find themselves working their way up still once the playoffs start.

I refuse to call Carter anything but a living legend. He isn’t human. This dude is a treasure. How is he still dunking at 41 years old!?

This just doesn’t make sense. I guess that’s why they call him half man, half amazing. Shout out to the living legend.

This is some vision, man.

I’m not sure what I’m more impressed with — the fact that Jokic can easily hit a look-away pass in transition like that or that Jamal Murray is willing to let his center run a fastbreak like that.

Yes, I know Jokic is totally capable of handling the ball. But it seriously gets more fascinating every time I watch it.

Oh, and don’t look now, but the Nuggets have won four of their last five games and are climbing the ranks of the West. They passed Portland for the sixth seed with a win over the Spurs Tuesday.

Seriously. The Jazz are the 10th seed in the conference and are only 2.5 games out of the fifth seed. They’ve got a real shot at making the playoffs and have won 10 straight games behind Donovan Mitchell.

But in between them we’ve got the Clippers, Nuggets, and Pelicans who are all still pushing for playoff spots and not really slowing down. The race to the finish in the Western Conference is going to be crazy.

Raptors 115, Heat 112 (Raptors HQ recap | Hot Hot Hoops recap)

Bucks 97, Hawks 92 (Brewhoop recap | Peachtree Hoops recap)

Rockets 126, Timberwolves 108 (The Dream Shake recap | Canis Hoopus recap)

Cavaliers 120, Thunder 112 (Fear the Sword recap | WTLC recap)

Kings 114, Mavericks 109 (Sactown Royalty recap | Mavs Moneyball recap)

Spurs 117, Nuggets 109 (Pounding the Rock recap | Denver Stiffs recap)