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On a night where they couldn’t buy a 3-point shot, the Milwaukee Bucks fell to the Denver Nuggets, 128-97.
Denver would take advantage of a porous Milwaukee defense after one, as they possessed a 37-23 advantage. In the last 3:22 of the first quarter, the Bucks were outscored 15-2. Milwaukee would end up shooting a percentage of just 24% (6-of-25) from deep in the first half, which would be the largest component in Denver owning a 64-50 halftime lead.
Milwaukee wouldn’t be able to put much of a dent in the Denver lead throughout the third. Cold shooting from the Bucks and hot shooting from Denver and Jamal Murray would allow them to keep their hefty advantage. Moving into the fourth, the Nuggets groomed a 99-80 advantage.
Though the Bucks would trim the Denver lead to just 13 points early on in the fourth, they’d be unable to make the summit over the mountain. The Nuggets just proved to be too much to overcome and would escape with a 128-97 victory.
Stat That Stood Out
The entire first half is where the Bucks dug themselves in a massive hole, mainly due to poor shooting from beyond the arc. They’d shoot just 24% in the first half (6-of-25) and miss countless open looks. Plain and simple, if that’s happening, ball games aren’t going to be won. The Bucks would end up shooting 11-of-40 on the night from deep. It was just an ugly performance overall in that category and the Bucks will look to improve upon that shooting Thursday at Memphis.