RECAP
The Milwaukee Bucks fended off the depleted Philadephia 76ers at home in a big 123-109 victory on Sunday. Despite Philadelphia missing a few starters, they could claw out of a few holes they dug early in the game. But it wasn’t enough to stop scorching hot Milwaukee, who went 4-0 to round off this homestretch.
It was yet another game where the Bucks started on the right foot, outscoring the 76ers 30-21 in the first quarter. Starting the game with paint touches is what got the offense moving in the right direction. Without their MVP-winning center holding down the middle, Philadelphia could not stop the Bucks in the interior. Giannis Antetokoumpo and Brook Lopez were able to feed away on the Adem Bona/Pete Nance-led frontcourt. Outscoring the Sixers in the paint 52-40 and outrebounding their bigs 48-38. Leading the way for a long night for the Philadelphia faithful.
Moving Khris Middleton to the bench unit continues to show its dividends as the spacing of Giannis and Dame continues to improve. Just weeks ago the move was announced by Coach Doc Rivers that Middleton would no longer be starting and with each win the team stacks, the better the move looks. Tonight off the bench; Middleton had an efficient 13 points, on 50% from the field, and 8 assists. Not only can he be another scorer off the bench, taking pressure off of Bobby Portis, but those eight assists show that he’s relieving pressure from bench ball-handers as well. The Bucks will need this resurgence of their former All-Star if they’re hoping to inch closer toward that three-seed.
ANALYSIS
With the win against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, the Milwaukee Bucks hold a 2-0 record on the Sixers squad and they move two games back from the third seed. Finishing off the last game of their homestand, the Bucks had four different starters score in the double-digits.
In these last few weeks, the role-players for this Bucks team have improved immensely. Whether it’s guys stepping up into roles or even taking positions there have been multiple players who have taken “that next step” in Milwaukee. I cannot rave enough about the impact Taurean Prince has had on the Bucks starting lineup. Prince’s consistent three-ball and expert-level defense have both played a factor in Milwaukee’s stretch of wins recently. After moving to the bench with Middleton returning to the lineup, Buck’s pace slowed down to the point where they were nearly getting run out of the gym by any team with youth on it. Now with A-JAX (Andre Jackson Jr.) getting consistent starting minutes and Prince being able to help push the pace the Bucks have looked like a rejuvenated team as of late. That’s not even mentioning the improvements of bench players AJ Green and Ryan Rollins (who I talked about in this article) who have leap-frogged veteran players in the rotation. Milwaukee will continue to roll as long as they trust their system and especially their young guys to make the right plays.
When asked about Khris Middleton’s playmaking, Milwaukee Coach Doc Rivers had this to say about how he’s played tonight and mentioned the play of Taurean Prince as well.
“Yeah Khris has been playing great, he comes in and has been our facilitator,” states Coach Doc Rivers. “You know who else is TP (Taurean Prince), he didn’t score much but he made plays the entire night so I thought he was fantastic.”
UPCOMING
Milwaukee will have a lighter stretch of games coming up as they hope to stack some more wins with the NBA All-Star Weekend less than a month away. After picking up yet another win against the 76ers, the Bucks are currently sitting at 24-17. This puts them two games out of third in the Eastern Conference and less than five games out of the second position.
In their next five games, the toughest squad that the Bucks will face in that time will be the LA Clippers (who are in high spirits after winning the battle of LA on Sunday). But on Wednesday they will play the Pelicans in New Orleans before traveling back home to face the Miami Heat. These two games are very winnable for the Bucks but they need to stay focused if they are going to continue to gain wins before their test against the Clippers on Saturday. The Pelicans have yet to play the Bucks this year, they are currently sitting at 11-32 which is bad enough for 2nd worst in the Western Conference. However, they have rattled off a few wins recently with their star player Zion Williamson returning from injury. Winning three straight games with the chance to extend the streak on Monday against the Jazz, before taking on the Bucks on Wednesday.
