DeAndre Liggins makes positive impression in Bucks debut

DeAndre Liggins didn't score a point, didn't record an assist and didn't grab a steal in his debut Saturday night with the Milwaukee Bucks, but his coach and teammates were singing his praises after a 113-110 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

"Oh my God, unbelievable, unbelievable," Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said. "He did an unbelievable job. He was everywhere."

Liggins, a 29-year-old journeyman has always hung his hat on defense.

The 53rd overall pick in the 2011 draft earned the NBA G League's defensive player of the year award in both 2014 and 2016 before getting a chance to appear in 61 games — more than half of his NBA total (120) — with the Cleveland Cavaliers last year.

And it was that defense that helped make the difference for the Bucks on Saturday.

"We thought with the way Portland plays small that he could have an opportunity to showcase what he does best on the defensive end and he did that tonight," coach Jason Kidd said.

Liggins' rights were held by five teams this summer before the Bucks claimed him off waivers from the Miami Heat on Oct. 16. The  6-foot-6 wing who was inactive for the Bucks' first two games, didn't know he was going to play Saturday.

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He was told by assistant coach Joe Prunty on Friday that he might get a chance against the Cavaliers, but the Bucks opted to wait. Then he was surprised to not only get activated for Saturday's game, but Kidd also opted to make him the first substitution off the bench with 8:03 left in the first quarter, replacing Tony Snell.

"My name was called and I was ready," Liggins said. "I came in and gave the team some energy."

On the Bucks' first defensive possession following Liggins' entrance, Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum challenged Liggins on a drive to the hoop. Liggins blocked McCollum's shot and took the ball away.

He turned the ball right back over to McCollum with an errant pass, but the tone had been set.

Liggins wasn't afraid of Portland's vaunted backcourt of McCollum and Damian Lillard, and he wasn't going to back down against either one. He battled throughout the game, coming up with deflections while making shots difficult.

"I'm a tough guy ... I just do what I do," Liggins said of facing Lillard and McCollum. "What I do you can't really script it or teach. That's bringing toughness, trying to irritate them a little bit. I kind of slowed them down and gave the team a lift."

Liggins acquitted himself well again in the third quarter, dogging Lillard and McCollum — who each ended up with 26 points — at different times. The result was a second positive shift as the Bucks went from tied to up by four over Liggins' eight minutes of action during the third.

That might have been the end of his night, but the Bucks needed to turn to Liggins again midway through the fourth quarter. That's because Khris Middleton picked up his fifth foul with 6:49 to play and Kidd needed to spell him for the final stretch.

Liggins, who didn't have the benefit of playing with the Bucks in training camp, held his own. He meshed well with the defense and offered staunch resistance to the guards of Portland's backcourt. When he went to the bench with 1:56 to play, the Bucks had turned a tied game into a three-point lead and Liggins earned applause from the Bradley Center crowd.

"I think it just shows his heart, his determination," Kidd said. "Being here — he deserves to be here — we’ve been looking to get him and we got him. I thought his spirit, his energy on the ball carried over to the other four guys on the floor.”

Liggins and Antetokounmpo both expressed the belief that Saturday's performance, in which the Bucks were plus-10 points with Liggins on the court over 18 minutes, should merit more opportunities for Liggins down the road.

"My job is to bring a toughness to this team," Liggins said. "I think I can I can fit well bringing the toughness off the bench, be unselfish and just play my role and I think I'll be fine."

Kidd's decision to activate Liggins meant another player needed to be tagged as inactive. That player was third-year guard Rashad Vaughn, who was not seen by the bench but was at the game.

"It's a lottery," Kidd said when asked why Vaughn was the odd man out.

Ready to go: The Wisconsin Herd, the G League affiliate of the Bucks, will kick off its training camp on Monday.

The Herd's 15-man camp roster features two-way players Gary Payton II and Joel Bolomboy, G League veterans Cliff Alexander and Xavier Munford who were acquired in trades and affiliate players JeQuan Lewis and James Young, who spent time with the Bucks this summer.

It also includes Kyle Casey, Michael Dunigan and Jarvis Summers, who the team picked up in the G League expansion draft, draftees Ladarius White (second round) and Joshua Blamon (fourth) and local player tryout invitees  Vitto Brown, T.J. Dunans, Kuran Iverson and Brian Williams. Brown played his collegiate basketball at the University of Wisconsin.