The Milwaukee Bucks tumbled to 0-3 after an away game against the Philadelphia 76ers that felt much closer than the final scoreline indicated. Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the Bucks with 21 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in 27 minutes. Kel’el Ware (19 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks) and Ryan Rollins (15 points, three assists) followed. Tyler Herro’s red-hot start for Milwaukee slowed; he managed 13 points in 31 minutes on 6/14 shooting. Joel Embiid scored 28, Jaylen Brown had 27, and Tyrese Maxey
scored 26 for a LeBron James-less Sixers squad.
NBA.com Box Score
Game Recap
Dean Wade opened the scoring with a three-pointer after Maxey found him open in the corner, and the Sixers quickly got rolling, extending their lead to 12-3. The Bucks struggled early from the field, getting good looks but failing to convert. That said, Milwaukee worked its way back to a one-possession game by the first timeout after Jaime Jaquez Jr. put back a missed Ryan Rollins jumper. Nate Ament made his debut, replacing Kyle Kuzma midway through the first half and scoring his first NBA point on a made free throw. Although the Sixers stayed in control and stretched their lead to 11, the Bucks stayed in the hunt. Kuzma threw down a big contact dunk over Adem Bona, briefly silencing Xfinity Mobile Arena. However, Tyrese Maxey closed out the first quarter with a ridiculous half-court buzzer-beater (of course), giving Philly a 34-25 lead.
The Bucks played well to open the second, with back-to-back triples from Brayden Burries and AJ Green helping cut the 76ers’ lead to just one. Milwaukee and Philly later found themselves tied at 37, and Rollins’ transition bomb gave Milwaukee its first lead of the game. A big Ware jam pushed Milwaukee’s lead to five, with Ware looking solid against Bona in the paint. Unfortunately, Ament picked up four fouls midway through the second quarter as he struggled with Philly’s physicality. The Bucks stayed resilient, though, and with under four minutes remaining, led by six; they consistently got to their spots and, despite struggling from three, converted a lot at the rim. As expected, Philly roared back, with a Jabari Walker and-one and a Jaylen Brown corner three with 12 seconds left to put the 76ers up by six. A pair of Kel’el Ware free throws trimmed Philadelphia’s lead to four at the half, though, up 64-60.
Milwaukee came back blazing in the third frame, with a Herro pull-up three in transition giving the Bucks a 67-66 lead just 90 seconds in. From there, it was back-and-forth. The visitors found a couple of nice shots out of pick-and-roll action as they looked to up the tempo. However, the Sixers found their groove from midrange, especially through Maxey and Brown, and soon led 78-72 with just over six minutes remaining. Milwaukee responded, closing the gap with hot shooting when AJ Green hit a triple to tie it at 82. From there, though, the Sixers slowly built a commanding lead; an in-traffic Jaylen Brown layup put them up eight, and Maxey’s last-second fadeaway over Ament helped the home team close out the penultimate quarter up 97-87.
Philly threatened to put the game beyond arm’s reach early in the final frame. Maxey’s driving layup past Kuzma gave the Sixers their largest lead of the game at 13, while Milwaukee looked stuck in mud. The Bucks stuck with it, though, and, through hustle and quick defensive rotations, trimmed the deficit to just six. Ware even converted an and-one that made the game a one-possession affair; however, a deep Brown three, followed by a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope transition bomb, all but buried the game. Embiid iced the contest with a one-handed jam that brought the Philly faithful to their feet, and the Bucks waved the white flag.
Stat That Stood Out
A more encouraging sign for Milwaukee: they grabbed 62 rebounds, 20 more than the Sixers. The Bucks also grabbed 17 O-boards, which turned into 20 second-chance points. Ware 13), Kuzma (12), and Jaquez (8) led the way for Milwaukee. For context, Milwaukee finished 28th in rebounds per game last year at 40.7.
Obscene Overreaction
Could Jenkins turn to Jericho Sims over Myles Turner on Monday against the Pacers? Turner managed zero points, five boards, three turnovers, and four fouls in 20 minutes tonight and has looked like a net negative for Milwaukee.
