Saturday night turned out to be another close encounter for the Milwaukee Bucks. They went up against an Atlanta Hawks side that was led by their own star duo in Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. True enough, Atlanta’s explosive backcourt combined for 62 points as the Hawks gave the Bucks a real run for their money.
In the end, however, Milwaukee prevailed, 132-121, and this was ultimately brought about by their ability to step up their game during the home stretch.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard Reacts to Close Win Vs. Hawks
Damian Lillard is no stranger to clutch-time heroics. In fact, he’s made a living out of taking his game to a whole different level when it matters the most.
This is exactly why Dame is pleased with how the Bucks have carved out quite a reputation of being one of the most clutch teams in the NBA today:
“I think sometimes this group especially, I just think we have an understanding of how to win games when it comes down to it,” Lillard said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It’s a matter of executing and getting stops and getting rebounds and being on the same page. And I think in those moments everything that you need to do well, we start to do well. I think we execute well. We laid on each other.
“And on the defensive end we take accountability for ourselves individually and as a group. Our communication goes up. Our pride on the ball goes up. Our urgency goes up. And that’s what it takes.”
Consistency is Key
Lillard knows all too well that the Bucks can’t always rely on this style of play, though. Just this season, Milwaukee has been on the wrong end of a couple of close losses, which ultimately, could be the difference between a championship and going home empty-handed.
For now, however, Dame is more than willing to take it for what it’s worth:
“We always say, man, we’ve gotta have that for the rest of the game and of course we need to be better over the course of a game, and I’m sure we will be better over time, but the fact that that’s one of our strengths down the stretch is a good deal,” he said.
“Because I think when it comes down to it we’ll be in a lot more close games than we will be in blowout. You just want to find that middle ground a little bit better over the course of the game where it’s not such a dramatic improvement when the game is on the line.”
For More Wisconsin Sports:
Follow me on Twitter at @PaoloSongcoNBA, and follow us @WiSportsHeroics. Also, check out our Merchandise Here! Get 20% off with the code “WSH.” You can also reach out to Paolo Songco via email at pao.songco@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Wisconsin sports, click here! Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers.
