Rapid Recap: Bucks 119, Clippers 106

In the last game of their road trip, the Milwaukee Bucks buckled down and earned a hard-fought win over the Los Angeles Clippers, 119-106. This win makes it ten straight for the Bucks, stretching all the way back to January 23.

NBA.com Box Score

Giannis Antetokounmpo kicked the scoring off with a smooth three-pointer, and although the Bucks built a sizable lead they allowed a frustrating sequence where the Clippers hit three straight threes, then a breakaway dunk out of the timeout. Eventually this ballooned into a 22-6 LA run that ended the first quarter at 27-22. With Khris Middleton being held out of the game, the combination of travel and fatigue (Milwaukee played last night) made the Bucks far sloppier than normal. This led to the Bucks chasing on defense more than normal, but they caught pace with Los Angeles in the first half, ending the second quarter up 54-51.

Both teams started the second half trading buckets, but Milwaukee was able to pull away thanks to some strong defense from their small-ball unit. We even had some quality MarJon Beauchamp minutes! At the end of the quarter, Milwaukee led 81-76. The game was broken open about halfway through the final period; Los Angeles refused to surrender but the Bucks kept hitting threes and Giannis kept getting to the rim. It didn’t take long for head coach Ty Lue to wave the white flag, and before you knew it this one was over.

Stat That Stood Out

The Bucks destroyed the smaller Clippers on the glass tonight. Milwaukee had more turnovers and allowed Los Angeles to make hay in transition, but with a +15 advantage (50 to 35) on overall rebounds and +7 on offensive boards (10 to 3), there was no way to keep the Bucks from imposing their will on the game. At one point Milwaukee had accumulated 16 second chance points to the Clippers’ 0, and that level of hard-nosed play is how you win your 10th straight game.

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