Last night, the Milwaukee Bucks were dealt the second loss in a row against the New Orleans Pelicans following Tuesday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Milwaukee sits a game and a half above the New York Knicks for the second seed in the Eastern Conference with a 46-27 record. The Bucks have nine more games left in the regular season, and in their next matchup, they’ll face the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.
For the New Orleans Pelicans, this win improves their record to 45-28. The Pelicans currently hold the fifth seed in the Western Conference. They sit a game and a half above the Dallas Mavericks, and they are a half-game behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the fourth seed. They’ll take on the NBA’s top team this season, the Boston Celtics on Saturday afternoon.
Milwaukee Bucks Suffer Foolish 107-100 Loss to the New Orleans Pelicans
Either team could not really get ahead of the other in last night’s matchup. New Orleans held multiple three-point leads during the first quarter, but the Bucks kept coming back to make this an intriguing first 12 minutes of action. However, the Pelicans outscored the Bucks 35-20 in the second quarter. With less than three minutes remaining in the first half, the Pelicans held an 18-point lead. By the end of the second quarter, the Bucks were down 16.
During the second quarter, Milwaukee could not knock down their shots as they went eight for 24, a measly 33 percent from the field. While the Bucks shot 40 percent from beyond the arc, they could not knock down those easy two-point baskets. New Orleans out-rebounded Milwaukee 16 to 10 and committed one less turnover than the Bucks. CJ McCollum led all scorers with 18 points followed by Jonas Valančiūnas who recorded 13 points. Both Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 12 points a piece.
While the Pelicans tried to extend their commanding lead at home, the Bucks did everything in their power to make a comeback. At one point the Pelicans had a 16-point lead, but that quickly decimated within minutes. With about three minutes left in the third quarter, the Bucks climbed back up into this game as they were down by just three points. After it became a three-point game, the Pelicans went on an 11-2 run which gave them another double-digit lead heading into the final 12 minutes of action.
Milwaukee could not establish themselves early on in the fourth quarter, which gave the Pelicans a huge advantage. As the final quarter went on, they trailed by five or six points multiple times, but could not get a run going to keep this Pelicans team on their toes. The Bucks were down six with less than a minute to go, they decided to foul Zion Williamson, Herbert Jones, and Trey Murphy III who sank all six of their free throws. The Bucks would take another tough loss, hopefully in Atlanta on Saturday night, we see this Bucks squad turn things around.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 35 points, in addition to having 14 rebounds, and four assists. Both Damian Lillard and Malik Beasley finished the game with 20 points a piece. Lillard recorded his 20 points along with five rebounds, and seven assists, while Beasley had 20 points, two rebounds, and a block in the Bucks tough loss. Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 28 points while recording five rebounds, two assists, and a block. CJ McCollum had 25 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and a steal during the Pelicans win.
