Bucks beat Hornets 130–99 in a balanced game that sealed the win in an in-season tournament.
The Bucks came back from being down 13 points early in the second quarter to regain the lead at halftime.
They then grew their lead to 20 points late within the fourth quarter before taking the players out.
Although Giannis Antetokounmpo had a right calf cramp, he was doubtful to play at first but ended up starting. He scored 16 points, had nine assists, and grabbed eight rebounds while getting fouled a lot.
Mahlik Beasley scored 11 points in the second quarter as well as Damian Lillard scored 18 points in the third quarter to help the Bucks win. Lillard finished with 27 points and Beasley had 20.
“It’s growing,” Middleton said of how deep and well linked the team was. “Everyone is clear; the puzzle parts are beginning to fit together.
We know we have still a lot of work to do, but I think we’ve learned a lot from each other, selected the style of play we want to use, and become more aware of who we’re becoming as a team in the past week.
Coach Griffin of the Bucks said, “I love the way we shared the puck, moved the ball, as well as looked for each other.” “That’s something we’ve been worried about for about a week now.”
It’s merely a fun game. I believe Giannis was the one who started that. He started making passes all over the place. We had clear shots, and both parties trust each other.
I think Pat only made one of six shots in the first half. Then Giannis started passing the ball to him and making plays that didn’t benefit himself. It’s great for the team spirit. On the two sides of the court, everyone worked together.
With their win, Milwaukee will play the Heat on November 28 in Miami. The Heat are the only other team in East Group B that hasn’t lost yet, so this game could decide who goes to the single-elimination elimination stage.
Griffin said he left this starters within the game with a big lead in the fourth quarter so that the Bucks would have a better point difference in the tournament. This will help determine which team will be the wild card in each conference.
He thinks that’s partly because he’s been able to play the whole first quarter within each of the last two games, which is something he did all the time with the Portland Trail Blazers.
The idea was brought up by Lillard to Griffin earlier this week, and Griffin agreed to give it a try.
Miles Bridges of Charlotte looked strong within his first NBA game in 583 days. He scored 17 points in 33 minutes by making 6 of 13 shots.
Bridges missed the entire last season and the first 10 games of this year because he was involved in a domestic violence case in 2022.
Miles Bridges also didn’t play because he was serving the last game of a 10-game ban given by the league for his part within a domestic violence incident within 2022.
After a strong first quarter in which Washington made all four 3-point shots and scored 12 points, the Hornets took a 32-24 lead. For a while, it looked such as it might be their night.
He did it with a blue patch over a tattoo that says “LF” just below his right ear. The tattoo breaks NBA rules that say players can’t have business logos on their bodies.
LaFrance is a point guard’s given name and the name of his new clothing line. That’s what “LF” stands for.
Bridges said, “I miss these fans, as I didn’t know what’s to expect.” “They miss me too.” I was glad to be able to spend time outside.
After a few minutes, Lillard made a three-pointer and Pat Connaughton made one from the corner, giving the Blazers a 14-point lead.
In the third quarter, the Bucks started to pull away thanks to a driving one-handed dunk by Lillard as well as a corner three by Beasley after Antetokounmpo set him up.
Early in the fourth, Bridges’ and-one cut the Hornets’ lead to six points. But the Bucks went on a 17-2 run and slowly amassed a 33-point lead with a barrage of threes.