The Milwaukee Bucks put up a good fight against the Philadelphia 76ers with Giannis out, executing at a pretty high level for most of the game, but eventually falling 139-122. Myles Turner had his best
game as a Buck, ending the night with 31 points on 62.5% shooting. Paul George led the Sixers with 32 points, five assists, five rebounds, and two steals.
Game Recap
After getting down 9-2 in the opening minutes, the Bucks battled back to tie the game due to Ryan Rollins and Myles Turner. Turner, in particular, was excellent in the first, dropping 12 points on 4/7 shooting. The Bucks stayed within arm’s length of the 76ers for most of the period, but about two-thirds of the way through the quarter was when Philly made their move, with Joel Embiid being the catalyst. Embiid looked surprisingly spry considering his injury history, manoeuvring his way to 18 first-quarter points (including a bunch of free throws, as per usual). The Bucks were down 42-34 after one.
Milwaukee opened the second with a lineup consisting of Anthony, Trent, Harris, Portis, and Sims (with Rollins entering a few minutes in). To my surprise, this crew got the deficit back to just three about four minutes in, with GT nailing two huge transition bombs. The Sixers would immediately answer with a 5-0 run after that, though, up 53-45—Bucks timeout. Unfortunately, the Sixers’ run extended to 10-0 out of the timeout, with AJ Green halting the run with a three off Kyle Kuzma’s penetration to cut the deficit from 13 to 10. Both teams traded buckets for the rest of the quarter, with nothing truly notable to report other than a funny sequence in which Embiid and Portis—both known high flyers—traded monster jams on consecutive possessions, later laughing about it in a stoppage. Philly led 62-71 at half.
The third quarter featured an offensive explosion from both teams in the opening four minutes. Paul George came out on fire for Philly, dropping 10 quick points in that span. For the Bucks, it was the trio of Turner, Portis, and Rollins that combined to have the Bucks tie the game at 81 about halfway through the frame. A key piece of the comeback was Doc electing to go to the zone, which slowed the 76ers’ offense down in a major way—credit where it’s due. By the same token, the Sixers figured the zone out somewhat in the minutes that followed, opening a 90-84 edge following an Edgecombe corner three and a Maxey drive. Turner kept the Bucks close, though, making it rain off a kick-out three for a season-high 26th point with minutes to play in the third, Milwaukee down 94-91. Much to the Bucks’ dismay, a late flurry from Paul George had Philly up 106-95 after three.
Sixers second-year man Jared McCain—who had struggled in the early season after returning from injury—opened the fourth with a triple to put the 76ers’ lead at 14, threatening to blow the game open, but Kuzma and Anthony scored consecutively to get it back down to 10. Unfortunately, the Bucks could only hold the Sixers off for so long, with George and McCain combining to hit four threes over the next two minutes, actually blowing the game open—Milwaukee down 123-104 with eight minutes to play. The Bucks got it back to 12 with four minutes to play, but the hill was just too steep to climb in the end.
Stat That Stood Out
The Bucks lost the possession battle tonight, with Philly besting Milwaukee 101-86 in attempts. This was largely because the 76ers had 15 offensive rebounds to the Bucks’ eight, and Milwaukee also turned it over 11 times to Philly’s six.
