The Milwaukee Bucks have now lost four out of their last five games after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers, dropping them to a .500 record on the year. Tyrese Maxey had himself a career performance with 54 points, nine assists, and five rebounds. Ryan Rollins tied a career high with 32 points and set a new career high with 14 assists.
Paul George made his presence known in his second game of the season, going 4/4 for 11 points in the first couple minutes. He was the only scoring Sixer as they built a seven-point lead before Bucks head coach Doc Rivers called a timeout. While other Sixers added to George’s hot start, the Bucks stayed cold. Cream City didn’t even hit double digits until there was 3:47 left in the quarter. Gary Harris hit the first three of the night for Milwaukee, but a Jared McCain three bounced in with 0.6 seconds left to put the Sixers up 33-20 heading into the second quarter.
After only hitting one three in the first quarter, Milwaukee hit two in the first couple minutes of the second to spark a 10-0 run. The Bucks continued to catch fire from three, shooting 6/10 to bring the lead within reach. They finally got their first lead of the night after Rollins found Myles Turner streaking down the lane for a thunderous one-handed dunk. After a 30-foot three-pointer from Maxey tied things up at 55-55, a Rollins layup with two seconds left gave the Bucks the lead at halftime, 57-55. Milwaukee ran a lot of a 2-3 zone and it seemed to stump Philly, as they were held to 22 points on 8/22 shooting from the field and two turnovers in the frame.
Both sides kept it close throughout the third quarter, with neither team getting a lead larger than five points. Philly retook the lead but it didn’t last long as the Bucks, or more aptly Kyle Kuzma, responded. Kruise Control was activated, as he went on a personal 7-0 run to give Milwaukee their largest lead of the night at six points. The Sixers responded, but a layup from Rollins gave the Bucks a four-point lead heading into the fourth, 81-77.
Maxey continued his hot shooting to start the fourth, nailing his fourth three and a step-back mid-range jumper to kick things off. Philly was able to regain and build a two-shot lead, forcing yet another timeout from Doc. After a failed challenge went in favor of the Sixers, threes from AJ Green and Turner tied the game at 101-101 with about three minutes left. Philly took a 104-103 lead, but Myles Turner came up huge with a three to give the Bucks a 106-104 lead with 15 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Maxey was fouled and hit two free throws to tie the game back up with seven seconds left. Rollins had a chance to be the hero, but his fading three was no good, and for the second time this year, the Bucks went to overtime.
The Sixers came out quick in overtime, with five points coming from Justin Edwards on a three-pointer and a Maxey layup for his 49th and 50th points. The Bucks were able to get within one point after a layup from Rollins, but Quentin Grimes hit a three over him to give Philly a four-point lead. After a Rollins mid-range jumper, the Bucks seemed to catch a break when Grimes missed the second of two free throws, but an offensive rebound from Dominick Barlow gave Philly an extra possession where Grimes went 2/2 at the line. That was the end of any chance of a Bucks comeback.
Although the zone did work well in spurts, the lack of defensive rebounding from the Bucks was apparent again. Not only did Philly just outrebound the Bucks by 10, they were feasting on the offensive glass with 11 on that end. Meanwhile, the Bucks got just three offensive rebounds, despite Joel Embiid and Adem Bona being out for the Sixers.
