Rapid Recap: Bucks 135, Spurs 129

Despite San Antonio’s propensity for midrange jumpers, the Milwaukee Bucks were able to best their hot shooting night and emerge victorious this evening, 135-129. Milwaukee raced out to an early lead against the Spurs, but their opponent battled back behind the ACL-challenged Davis Bertans’ shooting prowess as the Bucks trailed 36-34 after one. At halftime, the Spurs held serve and were leading 68-67, despite Khris Middleton going for 15 points on 3-4 from behind the arc. After three, the Spurs raced ahead for a 102-95 lead. As the game wound down, Milwaukee’s core starters took over and pushed them past the finish line to eclipse the Spurs for a win.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was his usual “all over the court” self, going for a massive 34 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists. His powering play down the stretch pushed Milwaukee ahead, and his 16-20 performance from the line was particularly encouraging.

Meanwhile, his fellow starters pulled their weight considerably, with Khris Middleton going for 20 points, Eric Bledsoe had 20 and 10 assists and Malcolm Brogdon chimed in with 23 points of his own. It truly was a group effort to eke this one out tonight.

For San Antonio, DeMar DeRozan was firing on all cylinders, going off for 34 points on a gaudy 26 shots. Lamarcus Aldridge added 15 of his own and Bryn Forbes tallied 18.

Stat That Stood Out

Giannis going 16-20 from the line was the most important facet of his game tonight. He’s at just 66.4% on the year after being a career 74% guy, so to see him get back to that level of efficiency was a sight for sore eyes. In particular due to his paint domination so far this season.