Milwaukee Bucks lose to Brooklyn Nets 119-111, Giannis has a quiet night while the Bucks get burnt by three pointers. Khris Middleton makes up for Giannis with 31 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Giannis ended the night with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. With this loss the Bucks are in the 8 seed.
From early in the game the Nets hung around in the game with vivid three point shooting and a plethora of defense on the other end of the court. In the first quarter the Bucks had a rough time making basic putbacks and having mental mistakes on defense. Meanwhile the Nets forgot had a very good night shooting which is uncharestic of their rebuilding team. Because of this the Bucks were down by nine points at times in the second quarter. At half D’angelo Russell was punishing the Bucks with 18 points as the Nets led by 7.
After a miserable start to the third quarter the Bucks began a run down 11 points and with defense and offense both clicking they regained all momentum and took a 4 point lead with a few minutes left in the quarter. Unsurprisingly, the Nets made their way back and ended the quarter with a two point lead while on a 12-6 run. After a back and forth fourth quarter that saw neither team hold a lead until an electric and-one dunk by Jabari Parker put the Bucks up by three points. That was until the Nets made two threes late in the shot clock and grew a six point lead with a minute remaining. Down nine with 15 seconds left almost all hope was lost and the lead was too much for the foul game to work.
Giannis Reaches 2,000 Points
Seeing the Bucks have clinched a playoff spot the fight is now who to play in the playoffs. Preferably, the Bucks would like to play a hobbled Boston team rather than a tough Toronto team. Every win is vital from this point forward and the loss tonight helps push the Bucks towards the eight seed. Ideally the Bucks would like a 7-2 seed matchup against the Celtics being the only team the Bucks did not lose the season series to. In addition, Kyrie Irving was found to be out for the rest of the season/playoffs after surgery removing a wire from his injured knee. This loss makes winning out vital to getting a good matchup in the playoffs.
By: Weston Olds
