After the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in a late-night game on Friday night in Minneapolis, Giannis Antetokounmpo sat at his locker in the early hours of Saturday morning. 

He acknowledged that the victory over the top team in the Western Conference was good, but added that a victory in Philadelphia on Sunday would make it mean a little bit more.

A “good win” had not been followed by the squad since Doc Rivers took charge on January 29. This time, the Bucks defeated the 76ers 119-98 in a matinee at the Wells Fargo Centre thanks to a strong first half performance.

Antetokounmpo declared, “We did make it count.” “We simply need to keep going, keep going, keep going. It must be the most important term to us. However, we seem to be feeling like ourselves by the end of the day. We are moving the ball, playing hard, and improving our defence. We’re just having fun, having a great time. We’re giving it our all.

“So, in contrast to the Minnesota game where we held them to 13 points in the third quarter, we did the same today in the fourth quarter, holding them to 16 points. That’s what we carry out. That is what we must continue to do.

“Everyone is touching the rolling object. Brook Lopez is making shots, blocking shots, and being a force in the paint while Bobby Portis is just being Bobby. All Dame (Lillard) does is hoops, shoots, and decides for everyone else. Our shooters are prepared to shoot and are arranging the floor for us. Hence, demonstrating skillful basketball play. playing excellent basketball at the moment.

BOX SCORE: 76ers 98, Bucks 119

The Bucks (37-21) took a 14-point advantage after the first quarter and extended it to 21 at the half, basically putting the struggling 76ers (33-24) away in the first half.

In the first half, Damian Lillard scored 17 points, while the 76ers only shot 38% from the field. In addition, Portis (15), Malik Beasley (11) and Antetokounmpo (11) all scored in double figures. The 76ers lacked the firepower to compete with the Bucks, who had 19 assists on their 26 made field goals at the half, and were led by reigning MVP Joel Embiid.  

According to Portis, “just moving the basketball kind of allows the defence to move and shift.” “The ball is unbeatable by you. Guys must rotate and put players in scrambling situations if the ball is moving.

“It was similar to what teams did to us at the beginning of the season—putting us in a chaotic environment, forcing us to sprint about, and other such activities. We had a lot of rhythm shots, in my opinion, since we moved the basketball, played freely, knew who needed to clearly create for others, and other such things.

“Basketball is a rhythm game, and I believe the ball finds energy and the right guy when it is moving.”

The Bucks shot 59.1% (13 for 22) from beyond the three-point line and 56.5% from the field overall when the ball was moving.

The Bucks were outscored 34–26 by the 76ers in the third quarter to close the gap to 13, but they did not provide much of a threat to win in the second half.

Beasley remarked, “We had each other’s backs right away.” That seems to be the first thing. We’ve been practicing this, and I believe we’re starting to realise how good and how long we can play, especially on defence.

With 30 points to lead all scorers and nine assists, Antetokounmpo tied Lillard for the team lead. Lillard scored 24 more points. Brook Lopez finished with 11 points, while Portis scored 17 points off the bench.

The 76ers’ lone effective offensive option was all-star guard Tyrese Maxey, but the Bucks pestered him enough that he shot 8 out of 19 for 24 points. Maxey provided seven more assists.

“Having victories after the all-star break felt great,” Beasley remarked. They exposed us to the flames. Due to our intense enthusiasm, many of us in Minnesota stayed up until four in the morning after a 9 p.m. game. Fly in, game at 1 p.m. It’s difficult. But we persevere, and the all-star break is off to a terrific start.

At the Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia on Sunday during the third quarter, Bucks guard Damian Lillard passes 76ers centre Mo Bamba to make a layup.

Have you noticed?

The starting remained together until 3:26 of the first quarter, but Rivers adjusted the timing of his rotation a little. By then, Milwaukee had jumped out to a 24–17 lead and was on an 8–0 run when Philadelphia was called for a foul, allowing him to insert his first substitutions of the contest.

Rivers stated, “I was going to call a timeout soon, but I liked (the run).” “I believe that Giannis is too old and too late for the 3:40. We enjoy letting him go for a little while before inviting him back.

After coming off the bench, Pat Connaughton increased the lead to 27 points for the Bucks with a three-pointer. Milwaukee then led 35–21 at the end of the quarter after Portis scored two baskets in a row in the last 48 seconds of play.

Damian Lillard played the whole 12 minutes for the second time in a row in the first quarter. Lillard was being substituted out for a few minutes and then put back in to finish the frame when Rivers took over.

Rivers stated, “We’re back and forth with that, trying to find the right rotation.” “We want Dame or Giannis to be on the floor for the 48, so that’s what we’re doing without Khris (Middleton).”

Giannis scores his first goal.

With 3 minutes and 23 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Antetokounmpo made NBA history by becoming the 78th player to reach the 18,000 point mark with two free throws. The all-time leading scorer for the Bucks, Damian Lillard included, is just the eighth player in the current roster to accomplish the feat.   

It’s another step in the right direction for the 29-year-old, who is pulling in the top scorers in the league history in addition to separating himself even more from former franchise scoring leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (14,211).

Earlier this year, Lillard became just the 51st player to reach 20,000 points or more.

For the second straight season, Antetokounmpo is averaging over 30 points per game and is shooting a career-best 61% from the field. He is currently on the verge of breaking his previous record for scoring average. Never before has a player in NBA history accomplished it for the whole season.

With his 30 points against the 76ers, he finished his career with 18,005 points. Antetokounmpo also contributed 12 rebounds and nine assists.

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Five digits

Lopez dunked with 00:00.1 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Bucks a 69-48 lead. With 1.5 seconds remaining in the second quarter, it looked as though Tobias Harris would make a layup for the 76ers, but Antetokounmpo got the ball to his centre with barely enough time to spare.

Four Games When Rivers took over on January 29, the Bucks have never let an opponent score more than 110 points. Before then, the team had only done it five times.

With nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, Beasley made his fourth three-pointer against Philadelphia, moving him up to the eighth spot in Bucks history most single-season three-pointers made. This season, Beasley has made 166 three-pointers in 56 games. He overtook Todd Day (163 in 1994–95), Michael Redd (163 in 2005–06), and Khris Middleton (162 in 2021-22). Ray Allen, who made 229 in 2001–02, is the all-time leader in single seasons.

Beasley was 6 for 7 from beyond the three-point arc to score 20 points in the victory on Sunday. He has made at least six three-pointers in a game for the fifth time this season.

Beasley: I’ve played the same role—defend and create opportunities—the entire year. The people I play every game with have intensified it. I might be able to demonstrate my ability to play both sides of the ball because we’re on national television. I believe I’m doing a fantastic job of attempting to be top on both sides. I have to carry on with that. I then had back-to-back games with the young man, Charlotte guard LaMelo Ball. I have to hold him down. I must do it because he has been averaging thirty per game. My next priority is that.

11-0 run by the Bucks to take a 27-17 lead in the first quarter, and they survived a similar run by the 76ers in the second quarter to allow Philadelphia to narrow the margin to 40-35.

When the Bucks score 30 points or more in the first quarter, they set a record of 28-3.

Booing Doc Rivers upon his return to Philadelphia

The Bucks head coach claimed prior to the game that he had not given any thought to how Philadelphia fans would react to him in his first game as an opposing sideliner since he was fired by the 76ers in May. The Wells Fargo Centre crowd responded to his return with loud jeers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo joked that there were only applause for his new coach, while Rivers claimed he didn’t hear them but enjoyed some of the odd heckles he received.

Over his final three seasons in Philadelphia, Rivers guided the 76ers to a regular season record of 154-82 (65.3%), which is the second-best winning percentage of any coach in team history. Despite having Joel Embiid win MVP in 2022–23 and being the number one seed in the Eastern Conference in 2020–21, they never made it past the second round of the playoffs.

During an over ten-minute pregame press conference, he was asked about his potential legacy in the City of Brotherly Love.

Rivers stated, “That’s up to you; that’s not up to me.” Overall, I was pleased with it. All I want is for us to have gone farther. I wish I could have had the opportunity to watch Joel (Embiid) play in the postseason in good condition. However, I believe they were swept in the opening round the previous year when I started this job here in Philadelphia. We lost to Atlanta in the regular season of the following year, which is something we would all love to have back, but overall Joel emerged as the team’s MVP and we made this team a serious contender for a title. The previous year, that wasn’t mentioned. and beneath numerous items. Consider that there was a lot going on—we had the James Harden trade, the Ben Simmons situation, etc. I could control certain things, but not all of them. In general, though, I don’t think it’s ever really satisfying to lose a title. We all do this for that reason. There will only be one of those every year. However, I cherished my time here.

What date is Khris Middleton’s game?

The three-time all-star missed the last five games prior to the all-star break due to an injured ankle he sustained against Phoenix on February 6. Middleton was not in practice on Thursday, missed the Timberwolves game, and according to Rivers, he “probably” won’t be in for Sunday’s matinee. However, Middleton’s walkthrough during Thursday’s practice was sufficient for Rivers to conclude that Middleton could play in a playoff series.

Rivers stated, “Getting closer,” prior to the 76ers game. “He’s coming a lot closer, but I’m not sure whether I’ll say near enough so we can think about it for the next game (against Charlotte on Tuesday). He is in much better health.”