Milwaukee vs. Washington: Bucks’ Brawn Beats Wizards’ Spell

After their 16-game win streak came to an end on Saturday night, the Bucks are back to their winning ways, holding off the Wizards at Capitol One Arena by a 117-111 final.

The first half of this one was largely dictated by the Bucks and their hot hand from deep. They were able to enjoy a 10-point lead entering halftime due to shooting 12/29 from beyond the arc.

The Wizards battled back in the first part of the 3rd quarter, shrinking the Bucks’ lead to only 3 after an 11-3 run in the first four minutes of playing time. Milwaukee was outscored by Washington 24-32 in the third frame, and only had a 3-point lead heading into the fourth.

Just over a minute into the fourth, the Wizards took their first lead since the early parts of the first quarter. From there, Bradley Beal went into beast mode to scare the Bucks’ fanbase, scoring bucket after bucket in the paint as Milwaukee had to battle back and forth for the lead. But with 1:24 left to play, Grayson Allen hit a dagger three after a sequence of excellent passing by the Bucks to essentially put this one away. Grayson scored all of his points (11) in the fourth.

Three Things

The Bucks were scorching hot from downtown tonight. As a team, they ended 22/49 (44.9%) from three. Five Bucks hit at least three 3-pointers, with Jevon Carter leading the charge shooting 6/10 from deep. Four of Carter’s bombs came in the 3rd quarter when we got to see his Bulldog Mentality on full display. When this team is stroking it like that from deep, it’s incredibly difficult for opposing teams to hang.

Giannis notched his 4th triple-double of the season tonight. Sure, he had to do a fake shot in the final seconds and rebound his own miss to get it, but a triple-double is a triple-double. What was most impressive about his stat line is the fact that he was in facilitator mode all game, racking up 13 assists on some hot shooting from his teammates. Giannis ended with 23 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists, 3 blocks, and only 3 turnovers. Only 3 turnovers on 13 assists! Here’s a look at one of the thirteen, a no-look pass out of a pack of swarming Wizards to an open Aussie in the corner:

Spreading the love around is winning basketball. Milwaukee had 6 players who scored in double figures this evening, proving that the Greek Freak isn’t the only threat on offense the Bucks have. They were able to do this thanks to some selfless play from the entire squad. The Bucks ended the night with 30 assists (compared to the Wizards’ 21) and 20 of those assists came from Giannis and Jrue. It was an impressive display of ball movement, giving notes of prime Golden State Warriors, as Milwaukee passed their way to victory tonight.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• Brook Lopez had an awesome sequence with back-to-back blocks with just under a minute left in the first quarter. He ended the game with 3 total blocks.

• There was a tense moment when Bradley Beal was driving on Grayson, missed the layup, and landed on Grayson’s back. Grayson had the 50/50 ball and moved out from under the falling Beal, who fell onto the hardwood. Words were exchanged, but thankfully cooler heads prevailed. Because of Grayson’s history, players are quick to call him dirty. But this wasn’t a dirty play. Thankfully the referees agreed.
• Jrue Holiday made a shot from well past half-court right before halftime, but unfortunately, it didn’t count because time had already expired.
• Even though that one didn’t count, Jrue got tricky with his bag of baseline shots and swished this one home:

• Porzingis had 18 points in the 1st quarter but was held to 6 points the rest of the way. A big in-game adjustment from the entire team to nullify the big guy.
• Jae Crowder threw an insane no-look pass to Jrue Holiday for a three in the corner. If that doesn’t make the Top Ten plays of the night, I’m not sure what should.

• Damn, that was so pretty, let’s take a look at it again from another angle:

• The Bucks’ 16-game win streak may have come to an end on Saturday, but last night they kept another streak alive: they have won 8 games in a row on the road! Milwaukee has the NBA’s 2nd best road record this season so far at 19-12.

Support our site! | BreakingT | ESPN+ | ESPN+ 30 For 30 | fuboTV | Disney+