The Milwaukee Bucks won on the road in Philadelphia, beating the Philadelphia 76er’s 90-89 to win on Thursday.

After going 0-5 in the preseason, the Bucks won a hard fought road game in the city of brotherly love 90-89. Like so many NBA games, it came down to 4th quarter play. A key 3 pointer from former Marquette Warrior Wesley Matthews helped seal the win for Milwaukee. Much maligned NBA vet Grayson Allen had a key drive and pass to set up the play. Allen started the game with Jevon Carter who also played well.

Giannis led all Bucks with 21 points. Jrue Holiday tied Giannis with 8 assists (pretty impressive passing performance from Giannis) and Giannis led the team with 13 rebounds. Brook Lopez was second in scoring with 17 points.

The game was nationally televised on TNT.

The Keys to Victory

The Bucks play well on the road. And even with Khris Middleton and Joe Ingles and Planet Pat out, the Bucks led from start to finish. The 76er’s made a decent run in the 4th quarter but the veteran Bucks squad held serve. The Bucks seemed to control the tempo the whole game. The play of Jevon Carter already felt like a spark this veteran team will need. 

Another key to victory was the coaching. Coach “The Bud’s for you” Budenholzer did not get wrapped up in the crazy technical, hot-headed drama Doc Rivers did. While Coach Bud did use his challenge too early, he was able to call some key timeouts to help control the tempo of the game. It was interesting to see his seemingly new staff keep their cool. It’ll be interesting to see how this new coaching staff works and blends with this veteran team.

Up next for the Bucks is their home opener vs the Houston Rockets on Saturday Oct. 22nd.

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