Rapid Recap: Bucks 118, Sixers 110

Almost every night, the Milwaukee Bucks refuse to make it easy on us, but tonight’s impassioned comeback against the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-110, represented a stirring in after a series of difficult losses. The Milwaukee Bucks fell into a hole early, trailing the Sixers 43-31 as Philadelphia ripped up Milwaukee’s nonexistent defense in the first quarter. The Bucks made up ground to start the second, but managed to still enter halftime with the same 12-point deficit, down 72-60. The third was a Bucks blasting, as a 21-0 run punctuated by multiple Giannis Antetokounmpo slams led Milwaukee to a 93-86 lead. Milwaukee carried that lead late into the fourth quarter, and held off a late scoring rush by Philadelphia to emerge with a hard-fought win.

Tonight’s contest was an outrageous roller-coaster of a contest, featuring crazy runs by both teams even as Milwaukee got the last laugh. From Giannis dapping up the Sixers bench after a highlight play to Embiid going Dirty Stoudemire on Tyler Zeller as he went in for a dunk and crumbled to the ground Bogut style, this was a heated contest between two teams who will likely be playoff grappling for years to come.

Giannis Antetokounmpo snapped whatever funk he had definitely in half tonight, bursting out with 35 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. His ferocious finishing and energy on both sides of the floor was a necessary jolt for a Bucks team that’s looked lost of late.

Jabari Parker made the most of his minutes on the floor tonight, coming through with 13 points and seven rebounds. Eric Bledsoe proved an effective tag-team partner for Giannis, ending with 22 points and seven assists. Tyler Zeller, who survived a disturbing play by Embiid, gave a good bench boost with 11 points and five rebounds, playing 20 minutes while Thon Maker logged just five.

Dario Saric led the 76ers with an incredibly efficient game, going 9 for 11 from the field and ending with 25 points overall. Joel Embiid tapped in with 19 points and eight rebounds to support him while Ben Simmons finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Stat that Stood Out

26 Turnovers - Philadelphia is no stranger to coughing the ball up, leading the league in turnover percentage at 16.9% coming into tonight. Milwaukee turned those multitude of mistakes into an incredible 36 points. Their ability to capitalize on those easy scores while down by 20+ was the key to them turning tonight around.