Milwaukee goes a perfect 4-0 on their homestand
The Milwaukee Bucks put the final touches on a perfect 4-0 homestand, toppling a short-handed Philadelphia 76ers team at Fiserv Forum, 123-109.
Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.
What Did We Learn?
The Bucks were able to get the job done in this one. I say that because so many times in the past, we’ve seen them come up short when other teams have maybe been without their leading scorers or have some other drawback. However, that wasn’t the case in this one. Despite there being the occasional lack of focus, Milwaukee was able to avoid the punches that were thrown at them and land the big ones to knock out Philly. I mean, at the beginning of November, you could’ve seen that as a game that they coughed up. Postgame, Giannis talked about that scenario and how he’s proud of the progress that’s been made. Ahead of a rough stretch prior to the All-Star break, it truly seems that the team’s mindset is in the right place.
Three Observations
Giannis brought it all night long.
As he typically is, Antetokounmpo was Milwaukee’s leading force in victory. He led Milwaukee scorers with 34 points on an efficient shooting night (13/17). However, in addition to the scoring he provided, he also was the leading rebounder in this one, hauling in 15 of them on the night. As I mentioned in the Stat That Stood Out portion of the Rapid Recap, him being a beast on the board stifled Philly’s second-chance efforts. Milwaukee dominated them in that department, outscoring them 19 to six.
Damian Lillard dialed it up late.
It wasn’t the best of Lillard’s games to kick this one off. He wasn’t able to inflict his scoring until late, which was when he started splashing some shots home. He’d start things with a 3/12 start but rattle off a 4/5 finish, exhibiting more aggression in the fourth quarter. Postgame, Dame attributed the blitzing that Philadelphia threw at him forced him to get the ball out of his hands to play four-on-five. He said that was the game he was playing and felt that he was still making opportunities to make the right play.
Khris Middleton facilitated the basketball off the bench.
As Middleton continues to come off the bench, he still finds ways to impact the game. Last night, he’d tally 13 points and five rebounds. However, the portion of his stat line that had the spotlight shined on it was the assists, where he scratched out eight of them. Giannis gave him praise for his ability to facilitate in his postgame comments, saying he is ramping up and continuing the impact the game positively. However, he didn’t stop there, poking some fun at his long-time teammate. Here’s him discussing his speed:
“He’s overcompensating. Because he moves like a turtle. And we have to move faster for him — defensively and offensively. So, it’s just a habit that we’ve formed as a team. We know Khris is not going to move as fast and when he’s trying to move fast, he’s a little faster than a turtle. So, we just have to do that extra work for him. Khris knows. He knows.”
Bonus Bucks Bits
- Ricky Council IV is one of the coolest names in the NBA.
- Brook stumbling down the lane is so funny, man. It honestly reminds me of when you’d set up a strobe light as a kid and everything was then in slow motion.
- Eric Gordon has had an impressive career. It’s always cool to see players reach the maximum of their longevity. I remember watching him at Indiana back in the day.
- Milwaukee has now scored 120+ points in a season-best four straight games, tying the second-longest active streak in the league this season (Houston Rockets). The Bucks are now 15-1 this season when reaching the 120-point mark, and they end their four-game homestand averaging 126.3 points per game.
- Giannis earned his 13th consecutive double-double in this one. This is the second-longest active streak in the NBA this season and the third-longest of Antetokounmpo’s career. Antetokounmpo has now scored 30+ points in three of his last four games and 23 times overall this season (2nd in NBA). He also dished out six assists tonight to log his league-high 13th game of the season with 30+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists, and the 141st such game of his career (4th in NBA history).
- With five field goals tonight, Khris Middleton passed Marques Johnson (4,546) for the fifth spot on the franchise all-time FGM list. Middleton (4,549) now trails Glenn Robinson (4,723) for fourth place on the list. He finished tonight’s game with 13 points and a season-high-tying eight assists.
- Damian Lillard also made some history in this one. He reached 22,000 career points, becoming the 38th player in NBA history to surpass the mark (8th active player).
Up Next
Milwaukee is now off until Wednesday, which is when they’ll travel to New Orleans to battle the Pelicans. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST. You can catch the action on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin or stream it on our Playback and YouTube channels.
Support our site! | BreakingT | ESPN+ | ESPN+ 30 For 30 | fuboTV | Disney+