Thursday night in the Smoothie King Center, the Milwaukee Bucks lost 107-100 to the New Orleans Pelicans after coming close to a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit.

With 35 points and 14 rebounds, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks, followed by Damian Lillard and Malik Beasley, who each scored 20 points. Lillard had seven assists as well. Despite just going 3 for 12 for seven points, Khris Middleton did dish up six assists. 

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With 3 minutes and 27 seconds left, Damian Lillard’s three-pointer for Milwaukee (46-27) brought the score down to 98-93, but Zion Williamson scored four consecutive free throws and the Bucks missed two three-pointers to effectively end the game. With 17 seconds remaining, a second three from Lillard put the score at 105-100, but the Pelicans kept making free throws and forcing the Bucks to foul in an attempt to gain further possessions.

The beginning of a three-game, six-day road trip proved difficult for the Bucks, who have had difficulty traveling this season. The Pelicans improved to 10-3 in March and 45-28 overall.

Williamson scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and made seven free throws. He was the Pelicans’ top scorer at age 28. With seven assists and 25 points in the game, CJ McCollum finished. Jonas Valanc̯iūnas finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Trey Murphy III finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.Bob Jones scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds, and blocked three shots to lead New Orleans’ defensive effort…

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In an attempt to rally the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo has a fantastic third quarter.

In the first few minutes of the third quarter, the Bucks appeared disoriented. With just over eight minutes remaining, Antetokounmpo discovered a phone booth and emerged wearing his cape, losing 66-53. His difficult and-one on Zion Williamson sparked a 20-point scoring spree for him that continued until the Bucks trailed 83-70 with 2:22 left in the fourth.

Antetokounmpo participated in the entire quarter, shooting 8 of 9 and missing only one three-point shot. In addition, he scored those 20 points while going 4-for-9 from the free throw line.

Playing alongside him for almost the whole duration, Khris Middleton provided four assists.

Regretfully, Trey Murphy III and Larry Nance Jr. both made three-pointers to counteract Antetokounmpo’s efforts and keep the Bucks ahead by double digits at 85-73 into the fourth quarter.

Damian Lillard left for the locker room, skipping the whole of the third quarter.

Following his 1-for-3 performance from the field in the opening 4:57 of the third quarter, Damian Lillard replaced Giannis Antetokounmpo in between two free throws. He headed straight to the Bucks locker room and didn’t come out until the last minute of the quarter, which included the last 7:03 of the game and almost 13 minutes of actual time.

Throughout the game, Lillard has suffered a few hard falls without a foul being called. 

At the start of the fourth quarter, he checked in.