After completing their regular season sweep of the Charlotte Hornetsthe Milwaukee Bucks aimed to maintain their new momentum against the Chicago Bulls.
In what has become customary against Chicago in recent years, tensions flared from start to finish. Speaking from start to finish, the Bucks led the entire way in this nationally televised contest, having built up a lead of up to 25 points. To their credit, the Bulls stayed for most of the game to keep the Bucks on their toes, but Milwaukee still prevailed with a final score of 113-97.
Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to build his MVP case by posting 46 points with efficient splits, shooting 72.7 percent from the floor, 66.7 percent from 3-point land and 75 percent from the foul line . What stood out the most from this performance was Antetokounmpo’s success with jumpers, hitting them all over the court, an area he’s been a master of lately.
In total, he finished with 46 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and a block and a steal each. MVP stuff.
With this victory, Antetokounmpo surpassed Sidney Moncrief for the title. most wins in franchise history by a player. Fittingly, the Greek Freak now sits alone at the top of the mountain after being drafted by a team that desperately needed to strike gold in the draft and went after him. The best part is that he has a chance to continue adding to this record in the future.
Elsewhere, the Bucks also got Patrick Beverley’s best performance since he I came on board via trade, totaling 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and one block. The guard was on a mission against his former team, having made a series of tough shots while playing his trademark stalking defense.
Beverley’s play helped fuel the tension in this game, with him and Bobby Portis providing an advantage that the Bulls players opposed. The contest was also marred by an ejection after a clearly frustrated Nikola Vucevic fired a low blow at Milwaukee’s AJ Green.
DeMar DeRozan received a blatant 1 after going for it with Bobby Portis.
Good or bad call? ????pic.twitter.com/15XXyVZZxt
– Clutch Points (@ClutchPoints) March 2, 2024
DeRozan was clearly upset with how this one went, with Milwaukee playing tough defense on him throughout. He finished with just 12 points on 5-of-13 field goal shooting, unable to get going at all. Prior to his frustration-fueled ejection, Vucevic also struggled mightily, scoring 17 points on 18 shot attempts.
With this win and another strong defensive performance in the books, Milwaukee’s defensive rating rose to second in the league since Doc Rivers took over, according to NBA.com/stats. The Bucks have done a complete 180 with Rivers at the helm, and they still have room to improve.
Milwaukee’s defense will be tested throughout an incredibly tough stretch in March, with the Bucks facing several top teams. It will be a good test for a team that seems to have started to find its feet of late, having won five straight games. Next up: the LA Clippers.
Stay tuned for more analysis on the Milwaukee Bucks.
