After a convincing win over the Charlotte Hornets in their previous outing, the Milwaukee Bucks aimed for a repeat result against the same team on Thursday.
Going for the regular season sweep against Charlotte, Milwaukee came out with a sense of urgency and rode it until the end, having never trailed from start to finish. The Bucks established a lead as big as 25 points as they continued their recent streak of impressive basketball, taking down the Hornets with a 112-99 victory.
Shooting guard adds to franchise record as Milwaukee Bucks beat Charlotte Hornets
Malik Beasley has been an incredible addition to this roster, giving the Bucks one of the best shooters they have had in years. Need proof? During a February 10 win over these same Hornets, Beasley had a record-breaking performance with his 13th game this season with five-plus 3-point makes, passing franchise legend Ray Allen for the most such games in a single season in franchise history.
Beasley has since added two more contests with five or more 3-point makes to his franchise record, which included against Charlotte on Thursday. The two guard sunk five triples en route to a 19-point night, trailing only Giannis Antetokounmpo in the scoring department. Beasley now boasts 15 games with five or more triples this season, having himself an incredible year on a prove-it deal.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. With everyone on the team contributing at a high level, the Greek Freak did not have to shoulder a significant portion of the workload, which is always a positive on the first night of a back to back. He was still efficient as he hit 10 of his 15 shots, which included knocking down both of his 3-point attempts.
Bobby Portis continued his recent run of success off of the bench with 14 points and 10 rebounds, giving Milwaukee a huge boost. The same goes for Pat Connaughton. While he didn't have the best shooting night, Connaughton still did a bit of everything with 11 points, two steals, one rebound and an assist. The Bucks need these two, and they have delivered lately.
For the fifth time this month, Milwaukee's defense held a team under 100 points, highlighting how the team has started finding their footing more and more on that end. Brandon Miller led Charlotte with 21 points on 21 shot attempts, while Miles Bridges had 15 points on 18 shots as the Bucks kept the Hornets' top players largely in check.
The Bucks are back at it on Friday night in a big clash with the rivaling Chicago Bulls.
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