It’s becoming a common trend in the few losses the Milwaukee Bucks have had this season. The opposition shoots an incredibly higher possession from three than their average and Milwaukee can’t put together enough consecutive defensive stops and made shots to keep the game close. They got as close as five, but the San Antonio Spurs pulled away in the fourth quarter to win commandingly 126-104.

The first half story can be told by the Spurs’ perimeter shooting. They made a franchise-record 12 threes in the first half on 23 attempts and didn’t cool off much in the second half. DeMar DeRozan was on his A-game and got plenty of help from his supporting cast to simply outscore Milwaukee.

DeRozan led the game with 25/3/7 and had Patty Mills right behind him, who took all ten of his shots behind the arc and made six for 21 points. LaMarcus Aldridge, Dejounte Murray, and Rudy Gay were among others to get loose around the arc and contribute to the 54.3% of threes that went down for San Antonio, totaling 19.

Milwaukee’s shooting was just as much at fault as the Spurs’. The Bucks finished just 33.3% from beyond the arc and that number is so high largely from Wesley Matthews (4-6) and George Hill (3-4). Giannis had a decent game for his standards with 24/12/8 on 10-22 shooting, but missed all five of his three-point attempts and missed out on some opportunities on both ends.

Most of the Bucks’ had below-average shooting nights and a lot of credit should go to San Antonio for being ready after falling in Milwaukee two days earlier. Milwaukee wasn’t rotating and closing out on shooters fast enough and yet another team had an above-average shooting performance against the Bucks.

Milwaukee falls to 32-6 on the season but did extend their 100-point scoring streak to 62 games, most on NBA history. They’ll return to action Wednesday at Golden State for the second game of the four-game road trip. Tip is set for 9:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Advertisement