Without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, the Milwaukee Bucks nonetheless handle Jazz in rout

No Giannis, no Khris, and somehow yet again, no problem. The Milwaukee Bucks moved to 4-1 in games where the team's top two players haven't been in the lineup, dismissing the Utah Jazz at Fiserv Forum on Saturday night, 123-97.

With Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton both nursing knee soreness, Milwaukee nonetheless took down a team coming off back-to-back wins against one of the Western Conference frontrunners, New Orleans, and did so thanks in large part to an overwhelming advantage on the boards, 54-29, and another big-time performance from Bobby Portis (22 points, 14 rebounds).

Box score:Bucks 123, Jazz 97

Jrue Holiday returns and shakes off the rust with personal 10-0 run

Jrue Holiday, the lone member of Milwaukee's "Big Three" to play, started 0 for 5 from the field and didn't score until 5:54 remained in the second quarter. But that was the start of a personal 10-0 run, and his 3-pointer from the corner suddenly put the Bucks up, 52-42, with 4:42 left before the break.

Holiday, who finished with 21 points, missed Milwaukee's last two games with illness.

"His first stretch probably was working out the rust a little bit and man, he caught a great rhythm," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "We needed it. (Malik) Beasley had hit two threes in a row and they closed without us scoring. It felt like Jrue did it a lot of different ways, hit a couple threes in there and looked like himself."

Holiday also had a team-best eight assists.

Bobby Portis scores 15 points in the first quarter alone to light the fire

Portis hit 6 of 10 shots in the first quarter for 15 points, and even though he didn't add to that ledger in the second half, he was a big reason why the Bucks never trailed by more than two points at any point. No other Bucks player had more than four points in the opening quarter.

"He was really special," Budenholzer said, adding that Portis' success convinced Budenholzer to junk his original substitution plan. "I didn't want to take him out of the game and just let him keep going. We needed that tonight, and I thought he was really good and set the tone, and then everybody else kind of joined him."

With 17 double-doubles, Portis is tied for fourth in the NBA in that department.

"Obviously to lose in that fashion – a 30- or 40-point (loss) on the road – it's difficult to take in that night," Portis said about the team's 142-101 loss to Memphis. "But we play 82 games and we can't dwell on it that much. Next game mentality. It was cool to get one of these type of wins before we had back on the road."

A totally different look from the last game

After that worst loss of the year, the Jazz game represented a breath of fresh air.

"We definitely wanted to be better tonight," said Brook Lopez, who had 18 points and eight rebounds. "We were all disappointed in our effort, virtually everything, the other night. I think we felt and knew we were going to come in tonight and give a much better effort and show up."

Budenholzer joked before the game he wouldn't even confess if he watched the game tape from the Memphis game, but the next opportunity arrived quickly.

"The guys relished that opportunity, going on the road for a pretty good trip here," Budenholzer said. "No matter what happens, we have a great team. There's nights where you feel like you need your group to deliver, and they did tonight."

MarJon Beauchamp and Sandro Mamukelashvili have productive nights with Giannis and Middleton out

Rookie MarJon Beauchamp came within a basket of his career high with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting, and Sandro Mamukelashvili played an active 24 minutes, recording three points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Both were hot topics during the postgame.

Mamukelashvili had six rebounds and six assists before he scored.

"When I come on the court, I know there are guys who can really score," he said. "For me, just to get coaches' confidence and guys' confidence in me is to play hard, get some rebounds, be solid on rebounds and be aggressive, but off the ball. I had no points but I had six assists, so I felt like it worked out great. I felt like I have to show everyone I'm a versatile big and whenever I'm open, I'll shoot it."

Count Portis among those impressed.

"He's bringing energy to the game that's contagious, especially a guy who's trying to gain the coaches' trust and gain minutes on the floor," Portis said. "He's just bringing anything to the game. It's not on the stat sheet, but it's felt throughout the team, it gives us momentum."

Mamukelashvili led the Oshkosh Herd with 26 points Friday night in a G-League game, and Beauchamp happened to be among those in attendance.

"He's like a Draymond Green out there, just doing it all," Beauchamp said. "It just looked beautiful."

Beauchamp wasn't so bad himself Saturday, closing with one of his best games, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range.

"I'm just working on my game, and when my opportunity comes, I try to take advantage of it," Beauchamp said. "Tonight was a good opportunity. I've been working on my shot every day, just building that confidence and trying to be decisive on my shot. ... I just feel like we come out every game, even when Jrue's out or Khris or Giannis, we just came with the same mentality and I felt like we just stayed together. Giannis is cheering us on, and that gives us a boost. I feel like everything is clicking right now, and we want to focus on this road (trip), so we just have to keep that mentality."

Added Budenholzer, "There's always kind of a silver lining (when key players are out) and opportunities for us to learn and grow, even in games where guys are taking breaks and resting. But when you get a whole 48 minutes of it, hopefully you find some things where guys can contribute and help you going forward, whether it's in short spurts or if someone goes down. Those things happen. There's a silver lining when somebody maybe can't go, can't play, other guys get opportunities to grow."

Will Khris Middleton be out for long?

Antetokounmpo came into the night questionable to play with knee soreness, but Budenhozler said during pregame media availability that Antetokounmpo wouldn't play. Middleton had already been ruled out.

"I think I would probably characterize it is that we're very hopeful it's short term," Budenholzer said of Middleton's injury. "Unless this takes some unusual turn, we're hopeful it's pretty short. That obviously has some wiggle room on both sides."

Video of the night

It came early, but Holiday finding Portis with a court-length pass for a slam was part of Milwaukee's first-quarter magic.

Joe Ingles will make season debut Monday

Budenholzer indicated that the plan is indeed to have Joe Ingles available for his Bucks debut Monday in New Orleans. The 35-year-old signed as a free agent with the Bucks in the offseason and wasn't expected back this soon after tearing his ACL in a Jan. 30 game last season, with surgery in late February.

"You've always just got to check the boxes, see how he feels after today, but he's had multiple 5-on-5 (practices), and we feel like we're very confident that he's ready," Budenholzer said before Saturday's game against Ingles' former team, the Jazz. "I think he's dying to go, ready to go. We'll make sure tomorrow he feels good, but the expectation is that he'll play on Monday."

Ingles and teammates Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Jordan Nwora went through a practice earlier Saturday against members of the Wisconsin Herd, the final test before Ingles sees the floor. Budenholzer noted that Ingles, in addition to offering a new dimension of three-point shooting for a team that's only middle-of-the-pack in the NBA in that department, brings a lot to the table.

"In the NBA, whether it's the beginning of the season or the middle, you need guys who can get on guys, talk to the other team a little bit, talk to the coaches a little bit," Budenholzer said. "His voice and his energy, and him integrating into the locker room and developing friendships and relationships before he hits the court … I don't think I've seen a guy do it the way he has without playing. Usually, this league, you've got to get on the court and play."

Budenholzer also said he'd been impressed with Ingles' passing and believed Ingles could serve as a tough, edgy defender.

"I think we can put out some lineups with him that are really long and really big," Budenholzer said. "There are lots of things we think he brings as a basketball player that's going to benefit our team."

For an injury that often takes a year to heal, Ingles is returning within 10 months of surgery.

"If you're a believer in setting goals and things like that, this is when he expected and wanted to come back and he's put the time and effort to fulfill that goal," Budenholzer said. "Our medical group is incredibly thorough and incredibly good, excited he was able to put in the work and time and his body and knee were able to respond in a positive way and he's able to come back on the early side of his projection."

Who do the Bucks play next?

Milwaukee (21-8) opens its five-game road trip against the New Orleans Pelicans (18-10), which recently fell behind Memphis for first place in the Western Conference but remains one of the league's best teams. The teams tip at 7 p.m. Monday.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks defeat Jazz despite no Giannis or Khris Middleton