Milwaukee gets the W in D-Town
The Milwaukee Bucks dug themselves out of an early hole to win comfortably over the battered and bruised Dallas Mavericks, 132-117. Giannis starred for the Bucks with a 29-9-9 near triple-double. Milwaukee defended Kyrie Irving decently well, I thought, but he still ended the night with 31 points.
Game Recap
Milwaukee’s 2/10 start from three (as well as some blown off-ball defensive coverage) allowed the Mavs to grab a small lead through seven minutes. To complicate matters, a Kyle Kuzma rolled ankle sent him back to the locker room, but he would return to the court after a few minutes of game action. Ultimately, the Bucks’ inability to contain dribble penetration had them down 31-36 after one.
Two early turnovers by the Bucks had the Mavs increasing their edge a bit more, but multiple Trent threes kept the Bucks within speaking distance. Unfortunately, another TO—and soft foul from Kuzma on the Naji Marshall and-one—gave the Mavs their biggest lead of the game at 10, up 53-43. After what felt like an eternity sitting on the bench, Dame and Giannis checked back in and Dallas’ lead was immediately cut in half. The ball started to move much better late in the half, with Trent, Prince, and Lillard paying off that movement with crucial triples. This gave the Bucks their first advantage since the score was 15-13; at half, they led 71-63.
Dame’s midranger followed by a TP four-point play was exactly what the doctor ordered out of the half for Milwaukee. Giannis then exploded off the high pick-and-roll for a massive Gyro-step jam over Moses Brown. Another Lillard midrange shot capped the 10-2 run, forcing the Dallas timeout less than three minutes into the period. The Bucks would continue to score easily for the next few minutes. However, the pace of the game slowed a bit after that. Milwaukee turnovers and late shot clock attempts gave the Mavs some momentum as the lead went from 18 to 14 and Doc called timeout. The squad responded by pushing the lead back out to 19 in short order. To their credit, the Kuz + second unit lineup extended the lead; Bucks up 101-79 after three.
The Mavs fought hard on defence and wrangled the deficit back to 15 with just under eight minutes left behind some Kyrie Irving magic, but the Bucks took back control when Dame and Giannis checked in. Dallas was sending immediate doubles to Giannis when he caught the ball on the block, and the Bucks made them pay from three because of it. Dallas made a late comeback, getting the lead down to 12, but it was not enough. Bucks win.
Stat That Stood Out
Giannis, a 58% free throw shooter on the year, went 11/13 from the free throw line tonight. His makes in the first half were crucial to keeping Milwaukee in it and then extending the lead late in the second quarter.
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