Sunday’s showdown between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers was a tight one. LA was playing without both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, which put them at a clear disadvantage. James Harden and Co. would not let up, though, which meant that the Bucks had to work extremely hard to secure a 124-117 victory at the Crypto.com Arena.
As usual, Damian Lillard and his clutch heroics played an integral role in Milwaukee closing out a strong challenge from LA down the stretch.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Damian Lillard Demanded Ball Down the Stretch
Giannis Antetokounmpo turned in a magnificent performance as well, finishing with 34 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists, a steal, and a block. However, even the Bucks talisman himself knew that he had to let Lillard do his thing down the stretch.
Dame shut the door on the Clippers with a classic Dame Time triple with less than 90 seconds remaining in the game. After giving the ball up to Giannis, the eight-time All-Star point guard immediately demanded it back. Antetokounmpo happily complied.
“Dame wanted the ball,” Antetokounmpo said of the play, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “He was yelling, ‘Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball!’ When a guy like that is yelling for the ball, you gotta give it to him.
“I saw him coming full speed and I just gave him the ball and … all-time great. He did what he did, man. Tough off-balance shot, made it and gave us momentum. And I think from that play, we won the game. It won us the game.”
𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗗𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘!#Bucks #FearTheDeer #NBA pic.twitter.com/vIRI84CdPC
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Thanks to Lillard’s trey, the Bucks mounted their biggest lead of the game. The 10-point cushion was enough to carry them through as there was just no coming back from the Clippers from that point.
As Antetokounmpo said, when Dame asks for the ball like that, there’s no other option but to give it to him. That’s going to be the right decision nine times out of 10.
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