His words had served as a warning. A few minutes after the embarrassing defeat against the Bulls, Victor Wembanyama summoned his troops to react, deploring that his Spurs were not “deserved]no more victories”. Two days after this exit at the United Center, the Texans failed to correct their situation against the Bucks (121-105 defeat)…
Still in the match at the start of the fourth quarter with a 2+1 from Tre Jones to bring his team back to ten points (81-91), the Spurs once again fell back into their failings of last season, leaving Doc Rivers and his men escaped with even more force, even counting 26 points in the middle of the last period…
The Giannis Antetokounmpo – Damian Lillard duo at work
Very clumsy, like Stephon Castle (2/12) or Devin Vassell (4/17), the Spurs were stepped on in the fight for rebounds by the Bucks with 50 holds, compared to 67 for Milwaukee. Veterans Chris Paul (18 points) and Harrison Barnes (14 points), with isolations, tried to save appearances, in vain.
This 19th victory in 35 games for the Bucks is above all the work of the duo Giannis Antetokounmpo – Damian Lillard. The “Greek Freak” finished in a “double-double” with 25 points on 11/21 shots, 16 rebounds and 8 assists in 36 minutes while “Dame” finished with 26 points on 8/13 shots, 5 rebounds and 8 assists in 35 minutes.
Now it’s time for a “back-to-back” for the Spurs at the Lakers on January 11 and 13, while the Bucks will go to Orlando on January 10.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
Victor Wembanyama discreet in the second half. If the French interior signed a new “double-double”, it had little impact offensively with three points scored after returning from the locker room. With his 10 points at 4/10 on shots, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks and 4 personal fouls, he finished with one of his smallest statistical lines of the season. This is also his second lowest mark of the season, after his six points against the Thunder on October 31.
Spurs in a bad way. This is the second time this season that the Spurs, tied for 10th in the Western Conference (18 wins – 19 losses), have had three defeats in a row after another dark series, at the start of December, against the Suns, Bulls and Kings
An almost perfect first half. The Bucks played their basketball in the first half, notably with skill at 3-points, 12 out of 24 from distance, including 4 out of 5 for AJ Green. The symbolic action? This counter from Giannis on Vassell, transformed into 3-points by Brook Lopez to give a 19-point lead.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.
