Mar 18, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Zaza Pachulia (27) looks for a shot against San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Playing the defending NBA champions is a tough draw on any night. Doing it a day after said champions lost to the lowly Knicks? That’s a nightmare. A night after sleepwalking their way to a loss against the New York Knicks, the San Antonio Spurs took their fundamental show to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks.
Things started fairly well for the Bucks who took a 28-27 lead into the second quarter. Then the wheels fell off. The Spurs outscored the Bucks in the second quarter 36-26 and never let the Bucks closer than eight points before closing out a 114-103 victory.
Giannis Antetokounpo scored 19 for the second time in three games and grabbed 9 rebounds for the second consecutive game. Khris Middleton added 15, breaking out of his recent shooting slump with 5-8 shooting.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome “The Big Fundamental” and his merry band of passing allies. Tim Duncan scored 19 on 9-16 shooting and Danny Green chipped in 20 points and 8 rebounds.
The Bucks outrebound the Spurs 43-34 (with 11 offensive rebounds to the Spur’s 4), and made more field goals than the defending champs 39-38. So what went wrong for the Bucks? It starts with weak-side corner three pointers. The Spurs hit at least three corner three pointers–sinking the Bucks hopes with each uncontested shot.
To make a bad situation worse the Spurs went 30-38 from the free throw line, while the Bucks shot just 18-24 from the stripe.
The loss sends the Bucks back to .500 (32-32) for the first time since, ironically, the last time the Bucks played the Spurs–January 25th (22-22).
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