Destroying the Philadelphia 76ers should not be an accomplishment this season, but it is for the Bucks. A 113-100 victory over the Sixers is the first time all season Milwaukee did not allow a terrible team to stick around and make things interesting, which is a major step forward for the Bucks. The Bucks dominated from wire-to-wire tonight, taking a 17 point lead after one quarter and never allowing the Sixers to trim their deficit to less than a dozen for the remainder of the game.
The statistics from Friday night were staggering. As a team, the Bucks shot 60 percent from the field and hit five of their 12 (41.7 percent) three point attempts. They scored 36 points off of 23 Sixers' turnovers. They blocked 12 Sixers' shots, matching their season-high from their game against Denver on November 30th. In other words, the Bucks dominated.
Individually, the starters were impressive. Giannis Antetokounmpo started the night 11-of-11 from the field before missing his final two shots in the fourth quarter. He also added six assists and five rebounds to go along with his 22 points. Like Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton did not miss his first shot until midway through the fourth quarter and ended the night eight for nine with 21 points.
The rest of the starting lineup was in double digits as well with Jabari Parker and Michael Carter-Williams also putting up impressive shooting percentages. Parker finished with 16 (eight-for-ten from the field) and Carter-Williams had 18 points on nine-of-13 shooting. Carter-Williams also added nine assists, five rebounds, and four steals, but had seven turnovers on general carelessness with the ball throughout the night.
The Bucks bench was not particularly impressive on the night, but two players really helped in the victory. Though John Henson only scored two points, he was able to make a major impact defensively with six blocks on the night (two of the highlight variety). Tyler Ennis was also solid off the bench with 10 points in just eight minutes.
This is just the third time all season the Bucks have won two or more games in a row, so it is impossible to talk too much about the importance of building on this performance and interim coach Joe Prunty highlighted that in his post-game press conference.
"This is a nice little stretch here where we played well at Golden State. We got a win at Phoenix," Prunty said. "Now we come home and get a win. That's probably as good of a stretch as we've had in the amount of minutes we've played and played well. So, now, we need to build on that. It doesn't stop."
The Bucks will go for a three-game win streak against the Raptors in a late matinee game on Saturday in the BMOH Bradley Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. CST.
Tidbits:
- Antetokounmpo was probable during the day with knee tendinitis, but ended up starting alongside Carter-Williams, Middleton, Parker, and Monroe.
- The Sixers had 28 turnovers on Tuesday against the Grizzlies.
- Jabari Parker threw a dunk down on Jahlil Okafor's head in the third quarter.
- A few moments later, he scored on a fast break lay-in and fell to the ground after landing. He grabbed his right thigh and sat still for a little while before getting up and limping slightly on his way back up the floor. He showed no ill effects the rest of the game.
Thoughts:
- How have the Sixers won a single game this season? (I'm writing this in the first quarter. If the Bucks somehow let the Sixers back in this game, they should be embarrassed.)
- During the fourth quarter, Carter-Williams threw down a Mailman dunk (also, pictured above) to put the Bucks up 22 in the third quarter. It was strange to see because you couldn't help but think that it was curious because the Sixers are so helpless. And then you remember the Sixers traded Carter-Williams away after a Rookie of the Year campaign. Though I might have forgot that for a second (and Philly likely doesn't have any regrets), it appears that Carter-Williams isn't going to forget about it anytime soon.
- Rashad Vaughn has plenty to work on, but it's strange to see him be the lead person on a fast break without the ball. Instead of going full speed, he will half-heartedly jog to around the three point line. I understand that is one of his strengths, but it seems like the fast break would be better if he'd run as hard as he can, go under the basket, and wrap around to the three point line on the other side.
- Before the game, Sixers coach Brett Brown said, "Turnovers will again be the story. We'll come out here again in three hours and we'll be talking about the same thing. We either did or we didn't, but turnovers will again play a major factor in tonight's game." He was absolutely correct.
- There were a couple times in the third quarter where it seemed like the Bucks were teetering on the edge of being just a little bit too lackadaisical with the ball, but they were able to re-focus in a couple situations and keep the Sixers from getting back into the game.
- After much consideration, I decided to include only one highlight above. In my mind, this entire recap could just be 20 VInes and it would be an accurate representation of the game. If you want to see a bunch of dunks though, be sure to watch the full highlights from the game.
- I am extremely analytical and try to watch the game as closely as possible. I can't think of many trends or observations that could be particularly meaningful because the Bucks won't see another team that bad until they see the Sixers again on April 10th.