The evenings follow one another and are similar for Milwaukee, which continues its rise in the East, and Philadelphia, which continues to deepen its descent into hell after conceding a sixth loss in a row last night on the Bucks floor.
Despite the context clearly favorable to the locals, Philly did better than resist in the first half. The Lillard-Middleton-Antetokounmpo trio attempted a first escape by going 11-1 in the first quarter (26-16), but Doc Rivers' collective, still sometimes too stereotypical, did not shine with its efficiency. Aggressive, Philadelphia took the opportunity to come back, and take a 15-2 lead between the end of the first act and the start of the second, with a dunk from Tyrese Maxey and a 3-pointer from Eric Gordon to bring the mark at 32-36.
The exploits of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the 3-points of Taurean Prince and Ryan Rollins helped to revive the locals, even if Ricky Council IV and Adem Bona clearly did not hear it that way, between the 3-points of the first and the Huge dunk from the second to tie the score at 48-48.
Shortly before the break, Milwaukee found the way to return to the locker room at +9 thanks to a back dunk from the “Greek Freak” on a perfect serve from Damian Lillard and a final basket from Khris Middleton (59-50).
Damian Lillard delivers the blow
Returning from the locker room, Giannis Antetokounmpo again had to work hard with dunks to maintain a semblance of a gap between the two teams, also with two 3-point baskets from Taurean Prince. Because the Sixers refused to give up, relying on the overflowing aggression of Tyrese Maxey (37 points) and the long-range arrows of Ricky Council IV and Kelly Oubre Jr. to stay in the match (86-81) .
At the very end of the third quarter, Khris Middleton's 4 points in a row put the locals back in a position of strength (90-81).
The salvation of the Bucks finally came from the outside address of Damian Lillard (three times) and Brook Lopez (twice) to finally distance the Sixers for good.
“Dame Time” finished the job by scoring a 5/5 free throw straight away, saving his team, like Indiana the day before, from a tense end to the match in front of the Fiserv Forum audience (113-98). Winners 123-109, the Bucks are well established in the Top 4 of the East before attacking a series of eight games out of ten away.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– Damian Lillard’s finale. The Bucks leader surpassed the 22,000 career points mark and offered himself a nice finale to celebrate with a high-level fourth quarter. “Dame Time” attacked the last act with a step-back in isolation before following up with three 3-point baskets to finish with 25 points, 16 of which were scored in the last period. Milwaukee really needed it to avoid a difficult end to the game.
– The massacre continues for Philly. In “back-to-back”, the Sixers expected to suffer as much as the injured list grew between the match against Indiana the day before and this trip to Wisconsin. In addition to Kyle Lowry, Jared McCain, KJ Martin, Caleb Martin, Paul George, Guerschon Yabusele and Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond was withdrawn after being hit in the foot. As a result, Nick Nurse introduced a new major five. This is already the 26th different five since the start of the season….
– Adem Bona marks his territory. The combined absences of Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond allowed Adem Bona to see the floor again. Author of his best match the day before against Indiana (12 points at 5/5 shooting), the former UCLA resident took the opportunity again to show off. The pivot, this time author of 10 points at 4/4 shooting, stood out above all with his monstrous dunk in the first half to equalize at 48-48, while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez stood in front of him!
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
