MILWAUKEE — The closely-contested season series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors lived up to its promise as the hometown team escaped from a back-and-forth sharpshooting clinic 118-111 on Sunday night.
Between the two teams, nine players finished in double-digit scoring headlined by 26 points from Bucks center Brook Lopez. The Defensive Player of the Year candidate switched gears in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Toronto Raptors himself 17 to 16. He bulled his way to the rim on numerous occasions, drawing multiple and-1 opportunities. Lopez converted on all nine of his non-3-point field goal attempts in the contest.
Milwaukee rejoiced as Giannis Antetokounmpo (22), Khris Middleton (20), Bobby Portis (14) and Jrue Holiday (11) each finished in double-figures. More so than the scoring on its own, Milwaukee thrived by keeping focused on unselfish, team-based passing. They assisted on 35-of-43 made field goals as a group.
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Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Holiday combined for 22 assists, which is more than the number of made field goals the trio converted. That, Lopez told reporters after the game, opened the door for him to put up his third-highest scoring performance of the year. Middleton, whose career average is 3.8 assists per game, has posted 5+ assists in nine of his last 10 games.
Although Lopez easily could’ve taken the credit for himself, he immediately expressed gratitude for his team’s commitment to playing for the best shot on each possession.
“We just have smart, unselfish players who know where to be, know where the ball should be, are good at reading and making decisions pretty quickly,” Lopez said. “We just got to show trust in one another and Jrue, Giannis and Khris do a great job of that, do a great job of finding open guys.”
PREVIOUS GAME: No Lopez, Bucks lose to the Pacers 136-123
With this game, Giannis moved ahead of Junior Bridgeman as the Milwaukee Bucks’ all-time leader in games played at 712. In addition to games played, Giannis also leads the franchise in total points, minutes, assists and blocks. Selected by the Bucks as a teenager in 2013, the two-time MVP has spent all 10 of his NBA seasons in Milwaukee.
The superstar forward took fewer than nine shots for the fourth time this season, yet still managed a 22-point triple-double with 13 rebounds and 10 assists. He did not miss a shot from the field in this contest.
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