The Milwaukee Bucks were able to take care of business and deny Khris Middleton a “revenge game” (I use revenge loosely), as they dispatched the Washington Wizards 133-120. Giannis had a spectacular performance
with 37 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists, while Middleton led the Wizards with 23 points on 9/14 shooting.
Game Recap
Even before the festivities got underway, it was an emotional night, with Bucks fans giving Middleton a standing ovation when he was being introduced with the Wizards starters. Once the ball was tossed in the air, Milwaukee got rolling right away with two of the newest starters getting in on the action. AJ Green, who started his ninth career game, hit the first shot of the season off an assist from Myles Turner. Then, after an Alex Sarr dunk, Turner scored his first points as a Buck, draining a right corner three. Shots beyond the arc were the Bucks’ bread and butter, as they hit five of their first six shots from deep, jumping out to a double-digit lead early. In the later stages of the quarter, Kevin Porter Jr. sprained his left ankle by stepping on Bobby Portis’ foot while trying to defend a drive by Cam Whitmore. He was held out of the rest of the game. A Middleton three did get the Wizards back within 11 points, but the new-look Bucks put the pedal to the metal. They went on a 12-4 run to balloon their lead to 19 points with 3:38 to go. Milwaukee was able to sustain that type of lead heading into the second quarter, leading 40-23.
The Bucks were able to nudge their lead to as many as 22 in the early goings, with the second unit scoring the first seven points of the frame. Washington wouldn’t go away, though, as rookie Tre Johnson hit a pair of threes, then Kyshawn George nailed one, and Corey Kispert hit a layup to cut the lead down to 14 points, forcing a timeout from Doc Rivers. Giannis came back in at the 7:46 mark and immediately got to work. Before being forced to sub out after picking up his third foul, the Greek Freak scored seven points to help keep the Milwaukee lead firmly in the double digits through the 3:11 mark. Gary Trent Jr. knocked in two more threes, sending the Bucks into the locker room up by 19 points, 72-53.
It was a rough start to the second half for the Bucks offensively, as they missed their first four shots with a turnover by Rollins. Washington was able to take advantage, going on a 14-0 run to bring the game back within single digits for the first time since the first quarter, cutting it down to seven with 8:10 left. Turner finally slowed some of the damage by knocking down just his second three-pointer of the night. After a Carrington three, the Bucks started to find their groove again, with Trent hitting a couple of shots from beyond the arc to get the game back to a 13-point lead. Cam Whitmore made his presence known in his debut for the Wizards after being traded to Washington in the offseason, scoring 10 points in the quarter to help keep the game within reach. What stabilized the Bucks’ offense was Kyle Kuzma, of all people, to end the quarter. The former Wizard scored six of the final nine points for Milwaukee to send them to the final quarter of regulation up by 11, 101-90.
Things stayed relatively close, with the Wizards getting back within eight points early on in the fourth quarter. Giannis and the Bucks put the nail in the proverbial coffin once he checked back in. After the Wizards made it an eight-point game, the Bucks went on a 16-4 run over the next five minutes of play to get out to a 20-point lead, 125-105. The Wizards did start to make a bit of a run towards the end, cutting the lead back down to 13 points with 2:11 left on the clock. Milwaukee was able to go into cruise control for the final four minutes of action, coasting to a 13-point victory.
Stat That Stood Out
All throughout the offseason, the Bucks’ players and brass talked about the need to take more threes, especially since they led the league in percentage a year ago. There were moments during the preseason that indicated this would be the case, and that carried over to game one. Last year, they averaged 36.6 threes per game, and they already eclipsed it by about eight, shooting 44 of them and hitting 40.9%. Trent led the way with five threes made on 11 attempts.
