After a rough start to the week, the Bucks were able to pull out a victory Friday! The Bucks are now in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference, 2.5 games behind first place.
Game 1 Sunday, December 25th
Bucks 118 @ Celtics 139
Scoring Leaders:
Bucks-
Antetokounmpo 27 PTS, 9 REB, 3 AST
Celtics-
Tatum 41 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL
Santa didn’t come for the Bucks this year, but the Bucks did make it an exciting game! It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Celtics were able to pull away from the Bucks. The main issue the Bucks had was no outside shooting. They ended up with a measly 36% from the 3-point line. They are missing Middleton’s outside shooting more than ever. To add to that, they also had 15 turnovers. That’s only 4 more than the Celtics, but it played its part. The biggest problems the Bucks have had are the 3-point shooting and the number of turnovers. The season is still early to make adjustments and they aren’t truly healthy yet.
Game 2 Wednesday, December 28th
Bucks 113 @ Bulls 118
Scoring Leaders:
Bucks-
Antetokounmpo 45 PTS, 22 REB, 7 AST, 1 STL
Bulls-
DeRozan 42 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 2 BLK
First congratulations to Giannis for becoming the 10th player in NBA history to have multiple 40-20-5 games! Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only record broken. The Bulls handed the Bucks their season-high 4th straight loss. The first half of the game was very exciting, going back and forth between the Bucks and the Bulls. It looked like the Bucks had the game after the third quarter, going into the fourth. Yet the Bulls held on and rallied, taking the game to overtime. Unfortunately, the Bulls had more in the tank and were able to pull ahead and win in overtime. I will quickly mention the little scuffle between DeRozan and Allen in the third quarter. Williams bumped into Allen, causing Allen to fall into DeRozan. Whether Allen added more push to DeRozan is for you to decide. The refs ruled a foul against Williams and that’s all I will say about that.
Game 3 Friday, December 30th
Timberwolves 114 @ Bucks 123
Scoring Leaders:
Bucks-
Antetokounmpo 43 PTS, 20 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 2 BLK
Timberwolves-
Edwards 30 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST, 4 STL, 2 BLK
First Bucks win! Finally ending the losing streak! Also, Giannis made history yet again! He joined Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor as the only players in NBA history to have back-to-back games of at least 40 points, 20 rebounds, and 5 assists! Chamberlain was the last to do it in 1966. Now that’s some elite company for the Greek Freak to be joining! Now onto the game itself. The game started very close, with the Timberwolves taking an early advantage. The Timberwolves held the game right up until the end of the third quarter until the Bucks took control of the game. The name of the game was rebounding, and the Bucks nearly out-rebounded the Timberwolves by double! Lastly, it looks like Ingles is starting to settle into his position on the Bucks. There were a few moments in the game where he settled down some players, showing his veteran mentality. Not only that he had 14 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds. I knew it would take a little bit for Ingles to settle in, and I’m glad he was able to!
Next up the Bucks face the Wizards back-to-back, the Raptors, and to finish the week the Hornets.
Josh Wilson