Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 137-134 win over Washington Wizards

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WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 24: (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Thanks to the clutch play of All-Star swingman Khris Middleton, the Milwaukee Bucks survived a feisty Washington Wizards squad Monday night in their first overtime victory of the season.

Even without the MVP on the floor for clutch time minutes, the Milwaukee Bucks were able to outlast the Washington Wizards in a 137-134 overtime victory at Capital One Arena Monday night.

The Bucks got things started off quickly and were raining threes early on, thanks to the marksmanship of both Eric Bledsoe and Wesley Matthews. The Bucks’ offense quickly bogged down not much later, thanks to some careless turnovers, but they managed to hold a 30-25 edge at the end of one.

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Those turnovers gradually became an unsettling trend throughout the Bucks’ first half play and opened up the door for the Wizards to hang around with the league’s best team.

Nonetheless, a late second quarter surge helped the Bucks take a 57-47 lead into the halftime break.

Milwaukee looked to set up the blowout win that many envisioned them having once play picked up back at the start of the third quarter as they quickly held their biggest lead of the night (20) at the 8:29 mark in the period. The Bucks maintained that large lead over the Wizards as the third quarter wore on and held a 95-82 advantage through three.

The Bucks’ hold of the game was eventually tested midway through the fourth quarter as Wizards All-Star guard Bradley Beal started to come alive and will his team on, before eventually finishing with a second straight 50-point performance. As Beal erupted, the Bucks struggled for any answers to slow him down. And then with 96 seconds left in regulation, superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo picked up his sixth personal foul.

Washington promptly overtook the lead, but a pair of free throws from Bledsoe and a game-saving block at the rim from Robin Lopez helped the Bucks avoid enduring through a disastrous tailspin and sent the game to overtime.

As Bledsoe, along with George Hill, split time denying the ball to Beal, it was Khris Middleton who took it upon himself to overcome a cold shooting spell late in regulation. The two-time All-Star scored the Bucks’ final nine points in the overtime period, helping them to seal an eventful victory, and their first overtime win of the 2019-20 season.

So without further ado, let’s dig into what stood out in the Bucks’ overtime win over the Washington Wizards, starting with the man of the hour, Khris Middleton.

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