Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving did everything they could to bring down the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. However, despite the fact that the Dallas Mavericks duo combined for 74 points on the evening, it was still the Bucks who secured a crucial win, 132-125.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard Heaps Praise on Mavs’ Superstar Duo
Damian Lillard was a menace for the Bucks in this one as well. The seven-time All-NBA point guard helped Milwaukee secure the W with 27 points on 7-of-18 shooting, to go along with four triples, three boards, 12 assists, and a steal in 38 minutes of play.
After the game, Dame tipped his hat to Doncic and Kyrie. Lillard acknowledged just how great these two superstars are as he revealed the mindset the Bucks took on against the pair:
“It’s not so much about the stats – it’s who can come up big in the moments that count and win the game,” Lillard said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I’ve had a lot of games where I have 50 points, nine assists or whatever and then in the end sometimes you’re looking like, man, we didn’t win.
“I think tonight that was what we understood. Those guys are great scorers, two of the best scorers in the history of the game and they see the ball go in a couple times (and) at that point there’s really nothing you can do about it. So it comes down to getting the stops when you need ‘em and being able to execute offensively. I thought we got a couple stops when we needed ‘em on those guys and we was able to execute and win the game. That was the most important thing.”
Lillard hit the nail on the head here. Luka and Irving may have stuffed the stat sheet yet again but in the end, the Bucks were able to hold them down when it mattered the most.
As he said, the most important takeaway here is that the Bucks defended their home court to escape with an important win against a Mavs side that has looked pretty impressive to start the season.
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