The Portland Trail Blazers outclassed the Milwaukee Bucks in a 115-103 duel tonight. The visitors lived at the free throw line, racking up 15 more attempts than Milwaukee, which fueled their victory. Jerami
Grant dropped a game-high 35 points, while Bobby Portis led the Bucks with 22.
Game Recap
Portland struck first in the scoring column, with big man Donovan Clingan connecting on a rare three from the wing. Grant, who’s been on fire so far this season, drained one from the same spot on the next possession. The Bucks finally got a hoop at the 8:54 mark: a tough Kyle Kuzma layup. The triples kept flying and hitting home for the Blazers, and they built a quick 16-7 lead before Doc Rivers called timeout halfway through the quarter. Andre Jackson Jr. was an early sub for Milwaukee, and he came out aggressive, taking four shots in his first three minutes (although he only made one). The Bucks’ bench unit as a whole injected some much-needed energy into the game, cutting it to 32-27 Blazers by the end of the opening stanza.
The bench mob continued their surge in the second, with Portis and Cole Anthony knocking down a pair of jumpers off the bat to trim Portland’s advantage to just two. Another Bobby bomb from beyond the arc gave Milwaukee their first lead of the night at the 9:06 mark, but Deni Avdija promptly responded with a three of his own. The ever-confident Portis stayed hot, though, smacking a timeout-forcing three a couple plays later before flexing and yelling at the crowd, which started a chorus of “Bobby” chants from the Fiserv faithful. Unfortunately, while Bobby was rolling, the Blazers continued to stack points and amassed a 10-point lead by the two-minute warning. The visitors were pounding the paint and getting to the free-throw line a lot, finishing the half with 21 FTA compared to Milwaukee’s four (Grant shot 11/14 on his own) and holding 65-53 edge at intermission. Bobby Portis had 20 points in 13 first-half minutes, while Grant led all scorers with 22 through two periods.
A couple buckets from Grant and a free throw from Avdija to kick off the second half gave the Blazers a 15-point advantage, their biggest of the night up to that point. Portland’s size was giving Milwaukee’s multi-guard lineups fits. Myles Turner and Cole Anthony got some stuff going offensively, and the Bucks slimmed the deficit back down to 10 by the 2:30 tick. Grant just kept drawing whistles, though, and the Blazers rebuilt their lead to 92-74 at the end of the third.
A 7-0 sprint for Portland in the first minute-and-a-half of the final frame ballooned their lead to 26. The Bucks were seriously sputtering, struggling to string together scores, stops, or anything positive at all. Milwaukee raised the white flag at the 3:47 mark when Mark Sears, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, and Pete Nance ran to the scorers’ table, cementing yet another tough loss in Giannis’ absence.
Stat That Stood Out
Milwaukee’s bench outscored Portland’s 59-28, and yet the Blazers still captured the convincing win. That speaks to just how poorly the starters played tonight for the Bucks, something that will be addressed further in the extended recap.
