Khris Middleton speaks on his lengthy recovery from an ankle sprain
Bucks star Khris Middleton speaks on his lengthy recovery from an ankle sprain suffered on Feb. 6, 2024.
It took until the fourth quarter, but the Milwaukee Bucks finally put away the scrappy Philadelphia 76ers in a 114-105 victory Thursday night at Fiserv Forum.
After jumping out to an early first quarter lead, Milwaukee (43-24) trailed by as many as 12 in the first half and didn’t reclaim the advantage for good until early in the fourth quarter when Bobby Portis and AJ Green came off the bench to combine for every point in a 12-3 Bucks run that flipped a three-point deficit to a 96-90 lead.
“I think Bobby just stuck with it and let it come to him and when he sees one go he can put ‘em on the board pretty quick and that’s what he did,” Green said. “I just tried to be patient, find space and let it fly when I was open.”
The Bucks then did enough down the stretch to slow all-star guard Tyrese Maxey and send the 76ers (36-30) to their fifth loss in six games. Green helped close the game, which included defending Maxey at times, and finished with 14 points while Portis had eight.
“Obviously AJ is a sniper and Bobby is our punch off the bench,” Damian Lillard said. “He’s going to score the ball, he’s going to bring energy, he’s going to be toughness and that edge. And I think to start that fourth quarter there’s going to be a lot of attention on the ball with me, there’s going to be a lot of attention when Giannis (Antetokounmpo) gets the ball and Doc (Rivers) is just always on me about getting downhill, getting into the paint ’cause the defense is going to converge and just making the right plays.
“I think when you got guys like that on the other end of that, AJ is going to shoot it, he’s going to make it and I think Bobby is going to do what he doe as well – he’s going to score the ball.”
It was fourth time this season Green had reached double figures in scoring.
“I probably was more proud of Bobby because I thought they sped Bobby up in the first half, got under his skin a little bit – and you know Bobby – and I thought he caught himself there in the second half and really helped us,” Bucks head coach Rivers said. “And AJ was just terrific, spacing the floor. Once on a switch we trapped and his job after that was to deny Maxey and he did a great job of doing that.”
BOX SCORE: Bucks 115, 76ers 104
Antetokounmpo scored eight straight after Green and Portis’ surge and then Lillard added two of his own and assisted on a Brook Lopez three-pointer to effectively clinch the game with a minute left at 109-101.
Antetokounmpo finished with a team-high 32 points and added 10 rebounds and seven assists. He made 9 of 12 shots and 14 of 18 free throws. Lopez had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Lillard had 17 points and nine assists.
Maxey led the 76ers with 30 points while Tobias Harris had 15.
Bucks slow Tyrese Maxey in fourth quarter
The Bucks have had their hands full with Philadelphia’s all-star guard Maxey this season, as he scored 31 points on Oct. 26 and 24 on Feb. 25. Thursday was no different as the 23-year-old nearly willed the 76ers to an upset victory. He scored 10 points in 12 first quarter minutes to stake the 76ers to a 29-24 lead and then scored eight points in a 1-minute, 10-second stretch at the end of the second quarter to keep his team out front 61-53 at halftime.
Maxey continued to hit key shots to help keep his team from losing the handle on the game in the third quarter, making a handful of baskets following Bucks scores stave off a true momentum shift.
He had 29 points through three quarters, but in the fourth quarter the Bucks tightened the screws on the dynamic 6-foot, 2-inch scorer by trapping him with their big men.
“He’s so talented,” Lopez said of Maxey. “He’s tough to slow down. Just having trust in the guard that we’re going out there with is big. Bobby, Giannis, whoever it is, we gotta go…
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