The crowd at Fiserv Forum was hopeful after Damian Lillard's late jumper gave the Bucks a brief lead, but their defensive effort failed as Donovan Mitchell hit the game-winner.
Tyrese Haliburton was a revelation last season, averaging 24.4 PPG, a league-leading 12.8 APG, to go with 4.2 RPG, 3.5 3PG, 1.0 SPG and 0.7 BPG through his first 31 games before a hamstring injury sidelined him for several weeks and later limited his output for the rest of the season. After having a summer to recover, the expectation was that Haliburton would return to that level this season with a new frontcourt All-Star teammate as a running mate in Pascal Siakam.