Bucks’ Brook Lopez: A little less splash, a lot more mountain

Welcome to the 2019-20 edition of the Bucks Weekly Spotlight. Each Thursday we’ll track the progress of the players who are trying to help Milwaukee make a championship run, give updates on other players from the previous week and sometimes take a look at who is lighting it up for the Wisconsin Herd.

This is the 9th edition of the 2019-20 Bucks Weekly Spotlight

SPOTLIGHT ON …

Center Brook Lopez

In case you weren’t certain, Splash Mountain is back.

While Lopez might not be shooting the ball as often as he did earlier in the season, he’s still making 3-pointers.

He had five last week, including a pair in games at San Antonio and Golden State, to give him 54 on the season. Only two 7-footers have more 3s: Chicago’s Lauri Markkanen (86) and Dallas’ 7-3 Kristaps Porzingis (68).

Lopez’s 1.5 made 3s per game is down from last year’s 2.3 makes per contest (as are his attempts, at 4.8 this season and 6.3 in 2018-19).

So, Lopez is still making a splash just maybe a slightly smaller one. But at the same point the mountain has grown.

Lopez had seven blocks on Jan. 4 against San Antonio. That was his second game with seven blocks this season – he’s never had more than one game in a season with 7+ blocks in a game previously.

While statistics for blocks are a little spotty before 1982-83, of what we know, Lopez is just the sixth Bucks player with two games of 7+ blocks in a season, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10 in 1973-74), Andrew Bogut (three in 2010-11), Larry Sanders (three in 2012-13), Alton Lister (two in 1981-82) and Elmore Smith (two in 1975-76).

In the NBA this season, only Portland’s Hassan Whiteside, with three, has multiple games with 7+ blocks.

Lopez is now second in the NBA in blocks (95) and third in blocks per game (2.6) but first in block percentage (8.5%).

BUCKSHOTS

— This week in Giannis: The reigning MVP is averaging 29.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 2020. He’s cooled off from 3-point range, however, as he missed all five attempts during Monday’s loss to San Antonio and knocked down just one of seven on Wednesday.

— Wesley Matthews halted a four-game drought without a 3-pointer on Monday, nailing 4 of 6 attempts from downtown against the Spurs.

— Donte DiVincenzo tallied his first double-digit performance of the new year on Wednesday night, scoring 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while also adding four rebounds, one assist and one steal. DiVincenzo came up one point short of tying a career-high of 17 points, set on Nov. 4 against Minnesota.