Rapid Recap: Bucks 137, Wizards 134 (OT)

This game wound up being more than the Milwaukee Bucks bargained for, but ended as one of Khris Middleton’s best games of his career taking them to a win over the Washington Wizards, 137-134 in overtime. Despite a lackluster first half performance by the Bucks, they still headed into halftime leading by 10, 57-47, following an 8-point burst to close it out. Another back-and-forth third quarter followed, finishing with Milwaukee up 95-82. The Wizards, well, mostly Bradley Beal, went on an absolute tear in the fourth quarter to force this one into OT, tied up at 123. Middleton went on a huge run late in OT, scoring the final nine points to loft this team to victory.

Khris was happy to see the Wizards again, nailing almost everything in sight from the court. He carried the Bucks to victory after Giannis Antetokounmpo fouled out, putting the team on his back in OT with 40 points on 15-28 from the field to go with five rebounds and five assists.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had an unintentionally restful evening, facing foul trouble almost the entire contest and fouling out at the hands of famed flop artist Mo Wagner. He wound up at just 25 minutes, but was still able to put forth a formidable stat line at 22 points and 14 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe was a fitting scoring partner for Middleton, adding 23 points, 10 assists and seven boards while Donte DiVincenzo acquitted himself well at 12 points and 10 rebounds, his first career triple-double.

Bradley Beal kept up his end of the bargain with his continuing shootout against Khris Middleton, logging an insane 55 points, becoming the first player with back-to-back 50+ point games since Kobe Bryant. A fitting tribute on the day of Kobe’s memorial. Shabazz Napier was a force off the bench for Washington, scoring 27 with some key buckets to keep them in the game in the fourth.

Stat that Stood Out

Nine - that’s how many straight points Khris Middleton had in overtime, the final nine of the period, to carry this team to victory without the MVP available. What’s more, those nine came after he missed several shots to open the extra period, but he still kept shooting and found ways to ensure the Bucks didn’t blow this opening game of their back-to-back against Toronto. Major kudos to Khris.