WASHINGTON, DC – Milwaukee has become a more balanced team defensively since Doc Rivers took over as head coach on January 29, but why does one of the league’s best teams struggle so much on the road? Even he doesn’t understand.
Tuesday was another example, with the Bucks losing 117-113 to the lowly Wizards after two days off in the nation’s capital.
The Bucks fell to 47 wins and 28 losses, but the Wizards snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 15 wins and 61 losses.
“I think they outplayed us,” Rivers said. “Give them credit. I thought they were faster, faster. They attacked. There was a reason we took two days off. To work our legs. And we felt like we were very sloppy. Maybe it had something to do with that. I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t know if we disrespected them. I just thought they outplayed us.”
And in the loss, the Bucks had some bad defensive habits from earlier in the season reappear, including poor transition defense. It was highlighted in a bad way. In the final minutes of the first half, Washington’s Jared Butler missed Antetokounmpo’s free throw with five seconds left, and Anthony Gil made it as time expired.
Washington then started the second half on a 12-1 run, quickly scoring the final five points off easy transition buckets after a Milwaukee miss. That run gave Washington a 70-55 lead, but they needed every ounce of his 15-point advantage.
“It didn’t stop all night,” Rivers said. “They beat us in transition. This is what they do. We talked about it before the game. There was an inexcusable transition ‘D’ play at the start of the third quarter. Three or four times they snuck up behind us and drove us into the car. Well, it’s a disappointing loss. There’s not much more to say about that. ”
The Bucks trailed by five points at the end of the third quarter, and Antetokounmpo made a bucket at the start of the third quarter to make it 91-88, but the Wizards responded with a quick 9-0 run to regain a 12-point lead.
In that stretch, Butler made two 3-pointers and Deni Avdija had a 3-point play.
Milwaukee got within possession again, 104-102, with 6:12 left, but couldn’t get enough baskets to make the stop.
“I think they made more small plays than we did,” Pat Connaughton said. “They got into a rhythm and hit some big shots, but at the end of the day, we got one extra possession, one extra shot, one less turnover, one extra rebound. I felt like we just couldn’t get the win.” That’s why we didn’t get the win we wanted. ”
And it was perhaps fitting that the Wizards’ eventual game-winning basket came in transition after Khris Middleton hit a layup to tie the Bucks at 115-113. Gil got loose to try for a layup. A late rear scramble from Pat Connaughton missed the first shot, but Gill was able to retrieve it single-handedly and put it back on goal with 8.3 seconds left.
“You know they’re a team that plays fast, and they’re a team that thrives in transition,” Antetokounmpo said. “We didn’t do enough to come back.”
Then we checked out some poor transition plays that stood out to Wizards players who like to run with him.
“I think they played well today and rewarded us,” he said.
Middleton had 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Antetokounmpo had a triple-double. They were the only starting pitchers to reach double digits. Bobby Portis had 12 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, and Connaughton had 15 points.
Corey Kispert added 27 points and Butler added 17 for the Wizards, who led the upset over Washington with six players in total reaching double figures.
Giannis Antetokounmpo records another triple-double against the Wizards
The Bucks’ MVP candidate had a triple-double of 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists on Tuesday night, giving him his 10th triple-double of the season. It was 45th This is his career triple-double in the regular season and his fifth against the Wizards.
This is the most he has ever done against one team in regular season play. He also had four games against Indiana and Miami. He also scored one point against the Heat in the playoffs.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for Milwaukee to overcome a double-digit second-half deficit against the Wizards.
Antetokounmpo might have had a triple-double in the first half had he not been benched for two fouls at the 4:26 mark. He finished the first quarter with five points, an assist, and a rebound, and the second half with 11 points, seven assists, and a rebound.
He had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists at the end of the third quarter, helping the Bucks cut a 15-point deficit to 91-86 heading into the fourth quarter.
Antetokounmpo also tied LeBron James for the most games of a career with 30 points or more, 10 rebounds and 5 assists with 128. Wilt Chamberlain is third all-time with 148, while former Bucks star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson are tied for first with 157.
It’s 25th This season, Antetokounmpo has had his seventh-most such games in a single season. Robertson is sixth, having been 28th in 1970-71.
Antetokounmpo is also on pace to average more than 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the second straight season. And that, you guessed it, would match Robertson from 1960-62, making him the only player to do it two years in a row.
Jordan Poole leads Wizards with double-double
Milwaukee native Jordan Poole had a tough first season in Washington, with the 24-year-old averaging 17 points per game and shooting just 32 percent from behind the 3-point line. However, he recorded only his second double-double of the season and sixth of his career against the Bucks.
Poole had 16 points and a season-high 13 assists, and his playmaking helped Kispert and Butler each achieve season-high points.
Poole, drafted 28th overall by Golden State in 2019, helped the Warriors win a title in 2022, but was part of the offseason trade for Chris Paul.
Johnny Davis, a lacrosse alumnus and University of Wisconsin graduate, was selected by the Wizards with the 10th pick in the 2022 draft. Although he played in just 28 games in his rookie year, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard had played in 44 games before Tuesday’s game. He started playing more in late March, playing about 18 minutes in the last nine games (two starts).
He played 18 minutes off the bench on Tuesday but was whistled for four fouls. He went 0-for-2 from the floor with two rebounds and one assist.
5 numbers
1-6 Bucks performance without Damian Lillard
17 Both teams committed the most fouls in the first 14 minutes and 10 seconds of the game (Milwaukee had 11, Washington had six). By the final 10:50 of the second quarter, the officials had blown the whistle just six more times (five on Washington’s side and once on Milwaukee’s side). The Wizards made 8 of 11 from the free-throw line in the first quarter, closing in on the Bucks, but trailed 28-27 after one game. In the first half, Washington finished 12-9 and Milwaukee 11-6.
18-20 Bucks road record. Orlando is the only team in the top six in each conference with a losing record on the road. The Bucks have two road games remaining at the end of the regular season, against Oklahoma City on April 12th and against Orlando on April 14th.
Antetokounmpo: Below .500? oh. I don’t know. I don’t know. When was the last time you lost in Washington? (November 7, 2021) Yeah. So…I don’t know, dude. I wish I had done that. Obviously we have to be better on the road. Hopefully we can advance with seven games left — I don’t know if we have any road games left — but we’ve got to be better. I hope we can carry that into the playoffs.
Antetokounmpo then went on two West Coast trips with the Bucks, going 2-7 overall.
“This year was probably one of the toughest years on the road for us. We hope next year will be even better.”
Due to the in-season tournament, the Bucks will only play 40 road games this season instead of the traditional 41.
211 Malik Beasley has made three-pointers this season, surpassing Lillard (210) in the race for the single-season franchise record. Ray Allen set a Bucks record with 229 threes in 2001-02.
Unfortunately for the Bucks, Beasley shot just 1-of-10 from behind the 3-point line and 2-of-13 overall in the loss to the Wizards.
4,500 Giannis Antetokounmpo made 5 of 9 free throws in his career against Washington.he is just 58 years oldth Players must earn at least 4,500. Only eight active players have more.
Pat Beverley leaves game against Bucks with injury in 3rd quarter
Midway through the third quarter, Bucks point guard Pat Beverley limped to the locker room after his right foot hit Poole’s right leg following Beverley’s rear contest block on a Wizards guard.
This was a big blow for Milwaukee, which was already without starting point guard Damian Lillard due to a right groin strain.
With Washington leading 78-64, Poole pulled up from 16 feet for a jumper. Beverley closed and blocked the shot, spreading his right leg out in front of Poole as he landed. Beverley’s momentum carried him to the right of Poole’s body, but his legs collided on the court.
As play continued on the other side of the court, Beverley quickly grabbed his leg and stepped back. After the Bucs’ mistake, the ball quickly went back in the opposite direction, with Poole going right towards Beverley, but early contact caused Poole’s foot to slip out in the west spot. Poole slid into Beverley’s legs and hit the court hard as he lost the ball.
Play was stopped, the court was eventually swept, and Malik Beasley was fouled, allowing Pat Connaughton to step in for Beverley, who went straight to the Bucs’ locker room.
Beverley, who was already playing with a torn ligament in his right wrist, played 22 minutes and had five rebounds, three assists, two points, one block and one assist.
He returned to Milwaukee’s bench with seconds left in the third quarter with what the club called a sprained right ankle, but did not play again.
After the game, Beverley moved around the locker room without any noticeable limp and assured reporters he was fine.
“I think it’s an ankle sprain,” Rivers said after the game. “I think he’ll be fine. I don’t know if he’ll miss the game or not.”
more:How Giannis Antetokounmpo overcame himself to play the best basketball of his career
Damian Lillard out with new injury
After the Bucks’ loss to New Orleans on March 28, Damian Lillard spoke to the media with stitches on his lower lip. He talked about being hit with a knee on one of his calves.
One injury he didn’t volunteer for was a right groin strain, which ruled him out of Tuesday night’s game at Washington. This is the first time this season that he has been selected as an All-Star due to his injury. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said before the game in Washington that the All-Star point guard was already in Milwaukee.
“It’s something we have to be careful about,” Rivers said of the injury. “No need to worry. Everything went well in all the tests. He might play tomorrow. But it will probably be tomorrow or Toronto (Friday).”
Lillard missed Milwaukee’s win at Atlanta on April 30 for personal reasons.
more:Damian Lillard is happy in Milwaukee but says he wants comfort in the Bucks’ offense
Patrick Baldwin Jr. joins Wizards
Patrick Baldwin Jr., a Sussex native and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate, did not play in Tuesday night’s game against the Bucks as he was assigned to Washington’s G League team to help make the playoffs. The Capital City Go-Go also added Milwaukee native Michael Foster Jr., who averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds as a developmental team during the regular season.
Baldwin Jr. appeared in 32 games (four starts) for the Wizards this season, averaging 3.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game on 27.7 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line.
Originally selected by Golden State in the first round of the 2022 draft, Baldwin Jr. was also part of the offseason trade that sent Milwaukee native Jordan Poole to Washington in exchange for point guard Chris Paul.
