The Milwaukee Bucks (2-3) defeated the Philadelphia 76ers (0-4) 91-87 on Wednesday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee
Despite being the expected favorite coming in, the Bucks weren't able to get any sort of lead throughout this game, as time and again the Sixers held strong. The Sixers eventually had an 85-82 lead with two and half minutes left in regulation, but the Bucks went on to out-score them 9-2 in the final two minutes to pull out the four-point victory in front of their home crowd. The Bucks were out-rebounded 51-37 in this one, but forced the Sixers into 19 turnovers, which ended up making the difference.
Struggling to get momentum this year, Khris Middleton finally turned things around. Although he didn't have the best shooting percentage, he still led the team with 21 points (7-20 FG, 3-7 3Pt, 4-4 FT), including a clutch three-pointer to put the Bucks up four points with less than 50 seconds in the game. Middleton was continually called upon for late game heroics during the 2014-15 season, so Milwaukee is very happy to see their star return to form again Wednesday. Greg Monroe also was able to have success in this one, showing the young bigs of the Sixers his experience. Monroe finished with 18 points (7-14 FG, 4-5 FT), eight rebounds and three steals over 36 minutes. He's now combined for an impressive 41 points and 21 rebounds over his last two outings. Giannis Antetokounmpo chipped in with an efficient 17 points (7-11 FG, 1-1 3Pt, 2-3 FT) and five rebounds of his own as well.
Despite struggling to limit Monroe defensively, rookie Jahlil Okafor and second-year pro Nerlens Noel performed admirably on the offensive side of the ball. Okafor recorded 21 points (9-13 FG, 3-3 FT), six rebounds and two blocked shots, while Noel finished with 17 points (8-16 FG, 1-2 FT), 12 rebounds and one blocked shot of his own. Noel has now notched three double-doubles over the first four games of the season, pushing his season averages to 12.0 points and 10.3 rebounds on the year. Nik Stauskas was the only other Sixer in double figures with 14 points, but went a dreadful 3-of-14 from behind the three-point line.
The Sixers will next head to Cleveland to play the Cavaliers on Friday, while the Bucks will be on the road against the New York Knicks on Friday.
