The San Antonio Spurs stomped out the Milwaukee Bucks 119-101 tonight, the second straight disheartening blowout for Giannis and company. The Greek Freak finished with 21 points while Victor Wembanyama totaled a game-high 22. De’Aaron Fox added 18 points and three Spurs posted double-doubles.
Game Recap
Giannis was aggressive from the jump, going right at the newly-bald Victor Wembanyama for a quick five points in three minutes. On one of the Greek Freak’s drives, Wemby went down clutching his
knee after picking up a blocking foul and hobbled back to the locker room. While Spurs fans definitely panicked a little bit, the team didn’t miss a beat, putting together a 14-5 run in the early minutes of the game to give them a 14-10 lead at the 7:40 mark. Milwaukee’s role players took a while to wake up, but Antetokounmpo put his backpack on. He couldn’t be denied, scoring a season-high 14 first-quarter points. San Antonio went cold, suffering a near five minute field goal drought at one point, but they were able to hold on to a 31-27 lead at the end of the first period. Kyle Kuzma drained a pair of threes to help Milwaukee stay within striking distance after Giannis subbed out.
San Antonio faithful let out a sigh of relief at the start of the second quarter as Wembanyama, seemingly unharmed, checked back in. The Bucks immediately took The Alien to meet their leader. The Mayor of Milwaukee, Bobby Portis, knocked down two threes while guarded by Wemby to give his team a 34-31 lead, triggering a Spurs timeout just two minutes into the period. Thanks to Portis and Kuzma, the visitors were able to weather the non-Giannis minutes much better than usual. Still, when the MVP returned around the 7:30 tick, the Spurs were in the middle of a 9-0 burst. That was when Wembanyama started to take over, hitting back-to-back treys as San Antonio’s lead ballooned to double-digits for the first time. The home team’s run flared up to 22-3, forcing Doc Rivers to call time ahead of the 4:00 mark. At intermission, the score was 66-53, Spurs. Giannis led all scorers at the half with 16, while De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle both had 14.
Unfazed by three-pointers from Myles Turner and AJ Green, the Spurs built their advantage up to 22 by the 8:46 mark of the third quarter. Wembanyama and Fox were both on fire. The Silver and Black went on another extended run, and things were pretty much out of hand at the 6:45 tick when their lead grew to 31. When Cole Anthony dusted off his sneakers and entered the fray late in the quarter, that felt like Milwaukee throwing in the white flag. The Spurs led 106-69 through three.
Not much needs to be said about the fourth quarter, but Milwaukee’s deep bench guys did make the final score look a little more respectable. Amir Coffey got a couple buckets. Thanasis dished a sweet dime to Jericho Sims. Coffey, Sims, Anthony and, Andre Jackson Jr. were all +15 when the dust settled.
Stat That Stood Out
Kevin Porter Jr. was 0/9 from the field and finished with a game-low -35 plus/minus. Those figures speak for themselves.
