Giannis Antetokounmpo set the Bucks franchise record for games played
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo broke Junior Bridgeman’s franchise record for most games played with Milwaukee at 712.
Jim Owczarski and Lou Saldivar, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Bucks split their season series with the San Antonio Spurs with a 130-94 victory Wednesday night at the Fiserv Forum. The Spurs beat the Bucks in November without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton (and Pat Connaughton and Joe Ingles), but with a healthier lineup the Bucks improved to 52-20 on the year.
The 36-point victory was the Bucks’ biggest of the season.
The Spurs fall to 19-54.
Middleton scored 29 points and dished out 10 assists for his fourth double-double in 28 games this season. Holiday had eight assists and seven points. Bobby Portis led Milwaukee’s reserve unit with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Joe Ingles had 14 points thanks to 4 of 6 shooting from behind the three-point line.
Giannis took over to lead the Bucks
Even the great teams in the NBA don’t have much of an answer for the Bucks’ MVP candidate, but the poor Spurs don’t even have a pencil for the test.
BOX SCORE: Bucks 130, Spurs 94
The second-worst team in the Western Conference (in one game) had 6-foot, 11-inch Zach Collins, 6-10 Gorgui Deng and 6-10 former Buck Sandro Mamukelashvili – but none of them had a real chance to get in. Antetokounmpo’s way, don’t be alone in stopping him from doing whatever he wants on offense.
Following Portis’ free throw, Antetokounmpo scored six straight points late in the first half to extend the Bucks’ two-point lead to nine, and then scored 12 points and assisted on two more in the four-minute stretch in the third quarter to blow the game open.
Antetokounmpo finished with a game-high 31 points on 14-of-23 shooting in just 24 minutes. He had 24 points in the paint, 10 off the fast break, six off offensive rebounds and he dunked seven times. His only real opponent was the free throw line, where he was just 2 for 5.
Antetokounmpo also had 14 rebounds, also far and away a game-high.
The Spurs kept it close until late in the first half
Sixteen personal fouls.
Fifteen turnovers.
Six made three-pointers.
Those three numbers helped the Bucks to a 66-51 lead at the half, but they needed a shutout in the final minutes to do so. The young Spurs cut a 13-point Milwaukee lead to 51-49 with 2:41 left in the half before Antetokounmpo scored six straight points to fuel a 15-2 closing run for the Bucks.
The last four turnovers of the half were particularly painful for the Spurs, as the Bucks scored nine points off them. Milwaukee scored nine points from the previous 11 at the half.
It was necessary, as Milwaukee missed many of their three-point attempts (7 of 22, 31.8%). They made just 56.3% of their free throws (9 of 16) and turned it over eight times themselves.
Antetokounmpo led the way for the Bucks with 18 points on 8 of 15 shooting while Middleton had 11.
Five numbers
1 Shot for Brook Lopez in 13 first half minutes, one short of three at the 6:13 mark of the second quarter). The Bucks center entered the game averaging 20.8 points on 14.5 field goal attempts per game since the all-star break. He finished with 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting.
8 Magic number for the Bucks to win the No. 1 seed with 10 games remaining (the magic number is the combination of Milwaukee wins and/or Boston losses left to clinch the spot).
18-4 The Bucks scored when the Big Three of Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Holiday played.
30-7 Bucks record on Fiserv Forum. They became the first team from the Eastern Conference to reach the 30-win mark at home.
34 Double-double on the season for Portis, who is top 10 in the NBA. It was also his 21st off the bench, leading the NBA.
The game is Joe Ingles’ buzzer beater
The Spurs stayed close for much of the first half, but the Bucks ended any lingering thoughts at the end — and Joe Ingles put the exclamation mark with a buzzer-beating three-pointer off a dish from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Video of the game is Giannis’ tip slam
The Spurs are one of the worst teams in the league, and they entered the game with five players deemed inactive. But, they only trailed 17-13 in the first half before Giannis Antetokounmpo followed a Bobby Portis miss with a huge tip-slam midway through the first quarter to make it 19-13. That got the crowd going and started a 9-2 run that gave the Bucks a double-digit lead and control of the game (though the Spurs held it until two minutes remained in the second quarter).
Bucks injury report: Jae Crowder is out with an injury, while Thanasis Antetokounmpo is back in the lineup
Who do the Bucks play next?
The Bucks return to the road on Friday to take on the Utah Jazz at Vivint Arena. Last season, the Bucks snapped a two-decade-long, 19-game losing streak in Salt Lake City with a 117-111 win on March 14, 2022.
This season, the Bucks easily handled the Jazz at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 17 in a 123-97 win without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Joe Ingles. The Jazz are led by all-star and most improved player candidate Lauri Markkanen as well as former sixth man of the year Jordan Clarkson.
