Milwaukee Bucks: Player grades from 112-101 win over Philadelphia 76ers

The Milwaukee Bucks put in a defensive masterclass as they piled further misery on the struggling Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.

The Christmas Day loss to the Philadelphia 76ers undoubtedly stung the Milwaukee Bucks, and this was a strong response in light of that fact.

There should be no narratives about the Sixers having the personnel or gameplan to beat the Bucks in a playoff series, as right now the 76ers will have to concern themselves with ensuring they’ll make it deep enough in the postseason to face the Bucks again.

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On this evidence, that’s by no means a given. What also must be taken from this game, though, is just how the Bucks’ defense can bring any opponent to their knees.

Milwaukee delivered one of their best performances of the season when it came to defending the paint, allowing the Sixers to fire away from three, and make a whole bunch of them, without ever being able to really look like winning.

Of course, it helps when Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton remain in outstanding form, but this game showed that the Bucks are just quite comfortably the better team overall. Better depth, better cohesion, and infinitely better chemistry.

With all of that mind, let’s take a closer look at the Bucks’ individual efforts from their victory against the 76ers.