The Milwaukee Bucks improved to 14-6 on Saturday night with a much-needed win over the Atlanta Hawks. The Bucks lost all of the momentum they built up over the past several weeks after they suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to a banged-up Chicago Bulls side on Saturday, which is why Saturday’s victory was a much-needed W for Milwaukee.
Damian Lillard’s Warning for Milwaukee Bucks
It was another close encounter for the Bucks against Atlanta. Both teams took turns throwing their best punches throughout the game, which resulted in the contest being tied up with five and a half minutes remaining in the fourth and final quarter.
The Bucks took over from that point on, though, as they shifted to another level down the stretch. Milwaukee stepped it up on both ends of the ball, outscoring Atlanta 18-7 in the final moments of the game, en route to a 132-121 victory.
Damian Lillard played a key role in Milwaukee’s win yet again, scoring 25 points on an efficient 10-of-16 from the field. The seven-time All-NBA point guard also logged six rebounds, nine dimes, a steal, and three three-pointers to round out another impressive performance.
Dame, however, could not help but send out a stern reminder to the Bucks after another tight victory:
“I don’t think you want it to be your identity to be that sharp only at the end of the game,” Lillard said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Obviously you want that to be your best moments. You want to be able to play that way to close out games. But I think we gotta find a little bit more of those moments throughout the other three quarters.”
I see no lies here. You have to give the Bucks a ton of credit for being able to separate themselves down the stretch but at the same time, there’s no denying that it would be more satisfying if they weren’t in that position in the first place.
As we have seen in past games, Milwaukee isn’t always going to be able to get the better of their opponents even if they outplay them down the stretch.
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1 Comment
A win is a win, and this is the true golden age of the sport, a league that has never been more athletically gifted and skilled. It’s hard to win big these days, especially with the 3 pointer in play.
I don’t think they are capable of blowing teams out for the first 3 quarters and then putting the subs in so they can rest the starters (and they SHOULD be using those subs more, with Marjon getting at least 25 a game and AJJ at least 15 or 20).
It’s probably a good sign that they can come back and close out games like this, because that trait will help, not hurt, in the post season.