There would not have been a come back had no one scored in the first half. Drew Gooden carried the load inside, even if he looked completely awful at times. But with Jennings sleepwalking through offensive sets most of the game, someone had to shoot. Drew Gooden is always willing. This was the first game since he’s started at center where he’s really been lit up too. Steve Nash made it a point to feed Marcin Gortat throughout the game.

Brandon Jennings took four shots. He took one in the first half. He claimed after the game that he just wasn’t getting the looks he usually gets. He didn’t say that like someone speaking with much conviction though. Milwaukee is now 0-5 when Jennings scores less than 10 points this season. Jennings and Stephen Jackson each have one game like this under their belt this season. The plot thickens. More on this later.

It was his first game in a while, but there was little rust on Stephen Jackson. He got his shots up and hit a couple timely ones. He also had a couple of big assists. But he’s still struggling to make shots consistently and his words after the game make it sound like he’s hardly on the same page as the organization, even if he’s constantly talking about how much he loves his teammates. His situation is incredibly messy.

There was a reason the Bucks found a way back in to this game. Someone had to have made some shots. Mike Dunleavy led the charge. He always looks like a great shooter and Tuesday he actually was one, knocking down five of seven from the field and four of five from three.

While Jennings appeared to take the night off, Udrih picked up some of the slack. Six points, four assists and three rebounds in just 17 minutes. The backup point guard was a big part of the Bucks second half come back.

Larry Sanders helped provide some energy and chipped in a couple blocks but struggled on offense. That sentence is his career thus far.

Delfino played just two minutes and didn’t catch the brunt of Lebron’s first quarter explosion. I can’t say I saw Stephen Jackson do anything particularly bad on Lebron, I think it was more one of those times when a great player got into a zone. With Lebron, it takes a team effort and a lot of luck.

It helps when ‘Bron isn’t necessarily the focus too. After the first it didn’t really seem like he was. Delfino probably deserves some credit for that, as he was hounding him off the ball and on. Oh, and Delfino chipped in three threes and 11 points. For a guy tasked with spending most of the night guarding the league’s best player, that’s a pretty terrific offensive contribution.

Starting on Bosh? Forcing Wade into step back threes after 24 seconds of dribbling? Blocking him on a drive into the paint? Spending the last part of the fourth quarter on Lebron after spending the majority of the game on Wade? All while tossing in 11 points and six rebounds? As if Mbah a Moute needed to do anything else to endear himself to Milwaukee fans as a defender and putbacks guy. This game was the prototype for all big defense little offense guys.

Scott Skiles had a smile on his face after the game when someone asked him about Drew Gooden’s strong outing.

“I particularly like the Drew Gooden one man press break.”

That’s so Drew Gooden. Apparently so is drawing fouls and so is battling and making some big plays late in games though too. All over the map.

I’m not really the superstitious type. I know what I say isn’t actually going to impact the future. I know I can accept something and be confident if there’s enough data associated with it, it won’t stop being true.

All that being said, I’m still nervous to just accept that Brandon Jennings is pretty good now. I don’t want to jinx it. He didn’t even shoot particularly well against the Heat in the fist half, but he was such a damn leader out there. And when the Bucks were working on a come back, he was doing his whole annoying (to the other team that is) swag thing. It’s so easy to look past that shooting line and at the times he poked the ball from Mario Chalmers or drew the offensive foul on D-Wade or stared down Norris Cole and just enjoy the heck out of this dude.

Oh, and then he hit some huge shots too. Then he mugged it up. Then he took it a step further and blacked out for a while in the fourth. Or maybe that was me. Regardless. Everyone really enjoyed that.

He wasn’t quite as sharp a shooter as he was Monday, but Dunleavy played a big part in the Bucks all around strong offensive night. He made his share of shots, but maybe even more importantly, he moved the hell out of the ball. Monday he was a creative perimeter player, a quick decision maker and a good shooter. That’ll do.

Athletically, Bosh is on another level that Ilyasova will never approach. In terms of effort, Ilyasova can battle with any player in the league though. It was another very typical Ilyasova kind of night. He led the Bucks in rebounding because he knows when he can keep battling and knows how to tip a ball to himself. His shot-selection was stellar as well.

Carlos Delfino has quietly been the best perimeter defender the Bucks have. Good thing too since Moute needs to play heavy power forward minutes with Bogut out. He bodies up hard on his man. And against everyone except Kobe Bryant, he plays the passing lanes aggressively.

Seriously, how versatile is Moute. Guards Kobe one game, the next he has to guard Greg Monroe. He used his long arms to deny Monroe the ball. And when Monroe was backing up, those same arms pestered Monroe’s dribble resulting in a few turnovers.

Didn’t think it was possible, but Drew Gooden pump fakes on defense. Will Bynum’s just scorching to the basket and Gooden’s all like, “I’m going to get in your way. . . no I’m not.” It’s a lot of fun to watch.

The Pistons’ point guards had the audacity to step onto the same floor as Jennings. This infuriated him greatly. He scorched Bynum and Walker Russell Jr. around the corner, but was often met with a horde of Pistons big men. No matter. Jennings just torched the Pistons from three. And after each one, he defiantly strutted back on defense.

The Bucks ran a sweet pindown for Dunleavy in the fourth. It was a swish. And it put the Pistons away for good. But Dunleavy had no mercy and kept burying them. If they pindown that play a lot more often, some good things are in store for the future. It’s not a coincidence that since Dunleavy started replacing Jackson’s minutes that the ball movement and offense has been off the charts.

Sanders did a very simple power move to the basket and converted a lay-up. No foul. No travel. No double dribble. I don’t know how to say this in any way that won’t sound condescending, but I was so proud of him. I wasn’t the only one in the Bradley Center that felt this way, he got a few cheers when he checked out in the middle of the fourth.

Drew Gooden will get by a guy like Pau Gasol for a layup and get a technical foul two seconds later. Drew Gooden will finish a wide open fast break layup and fall down for no conceivable reason. Drew Gooden will do his damnedest to defend Andrew Bynum and throw a pass through traffic into Derrick Fisher’s body. None of these things, not the good ones, not the bad ones, should be surprising.

Gooden was all Milwaukee really could counter the Lakers front line with, and he did his best. He’s typically a pretty uneven player, but Saturday night, he was better than that. He made a higher percentage of his shots and performed as well as you could expect against the Lakers tough front line. He often has the best numbers of any of Milwaukee’s starters, but Saturday night, he actually played the best too.

Elbow jumpers. I wonder how many Livingston has made in his life. It’s a pretty effortless shot for him, especially when he’s able to take it coming out of a post up. He displayed an uncommon blend of leaping ability and power with a dunk on a scrambling Andrew Goudelock. I’m sure Bucks fans are getting more comfortable with the idea of him as the starting shooting guard each game.

Before the game, I was thinking if the Bucks were going to be competitive, it would be because Jennings has 30 points and eight assists or something like that. Jennings had 10 points and five assists coming into the fourth quarter and the Bucks led by seven. Huh? Your guess is as good as mine. Saturday night’s was an okay game from Jennings – he handled the ball well, had only one turnover and pressured Laker point guards well, but only scored 12 points. And the Bucks still won and even shot 50% from the field. Weird.

He was like the perimeter version of Ilyasova. He hit two threes, helped facilitate ball movement, grabbed some boards and shot a good percentage. If Milwaukee’s reserves can make shots at a rate better than 50%, that would go a long way towards moving them forward without Bogut. Obviously they won’t every game, but on a night when the starters were solid, but not great, it was a big pickup.

While using most of his energy guarding the Lakers tough front line, he wasn’t the rebounding force he’s often been this season. But he helped the Bucks shoot better than 50% with his efficient night. Hit a three, grabbed enough boards in the fourth quarter to keep the Lakers from coming back – a game you’ll certainly take from Ilyasova.