Spurs beat bucks in style and tie the season series

The spurs put Bucks, revenge on January 8 defeat and won their fourth match of the month. The team scored a season high at 144 points, logged a season high on 24 3-Pointers plus wiped out bucks during the break.

After the game, Victor Wembanyama said, “That’s another example of how we need to play … this one I could feel that everyone was tired of losing.”

The spurs were early deer hunting. They drove out to a 21-13 lead, and between, Wembanyama blocked Giannis Antetokounmpo twice at the edge. But Bucks came back the stamp with eight straight points and forced coach Mitch Johnson to call a timeout. Next, Keldon Johnson scored 10 points to quit the quarter, but it was the neck-and-neck when the Greek freak continued to come to his cute spots, plus Khris Middleton, who was scoreless in two of his last three games, had a Renaissance during the period.

Both troops were deadlocked at 35 on their way into the second quarter. K. Johnson continued to shoot like John Dillinger from close and long reach. On top of that, three Jones and Castle helped carry the team through Wembanyama’s slow offensive start. Still, Bucks continued to hit the paint and to the line.

Then Wembanyama checked back with six minutes left in the first half. He started finding his groove and made four free kicks plus two 3-Pointers and took a fee against Antetokounmpo, but the spurs were still down 71-70 on their way to break.

At that moment, the team was outscored in paint points 24-22 and in second-chance points 13-5, but they were up 10-5 in Fastbreak Points. K. Johnson had 20 of the team’s 30 bench points.

Then Spurs opened the third quarter, making five of seven baskets to take a five-point lead, which later ballooned to 17. Wembanyama remained sharply as the quarter went on, making a setback dunk, three 3-Pointers and three freebies. Defensively, the team kept the Bucks to 30 percent shoot from 3-point reach, but they were not as successful to protect Antetokounmpo and Lillard inside the arch.

The fourth quarter started with Spurs in front of 115-101. Barnes and reserve herd was not stopped from coming to the edge as Wemby, Vassell and Paul controlled one last time to put the finish on the game.

The spurs won 144-118. They outscored Bucks in paint points 46-40 and Fastbreak Points 28-6. Bucks had the advantage of second chance point 27-14.

Games of the game

Wembanyama saved a wild pass from Castle and then hit a speed 3-Pointer with Antetokounmpo on his hip.

Game notes

• The spurs were an offensive machine. They scored 113.1 points per 100 half court games, good enough for the 89th percentile of all games played this season. And they scored 182.6 points per 100 transition games and put them in the 95th percentile per. Cleaning the glass. Furthermore, part of the reason they were so effective because they took care of the ball and turned it only four times, which is a new best this season.
• Spurs’ paint defense was excellent, with Wemby covering the back line and others who helped immediately. Johnson gave him props for “Quarterbacking defense with his communication.” In addition, they kept bucks to 8.2 percentage points below the league average at the edge.
• The team outscored Bucks with 27 points and held them to 34 percent shoot in the second half. To start, 144 are the most points Milwaukee has admitted the whole season.
• Castle got one of the toughest tasks in the league by protecting Lillard. The hesitation was hard for him to read, but he also bothered Lillard in full court press. He did not score an effective 20 points (35.7 percent), but his two 3-Pointers early in the third quarter was a big spark for the team. After the game, Johnson said, “He is an extremely aggressive player (WHO) can do so many different things … I think you see him learning at the job and he makes the same mistake less.”
• K. Jonson had only four points in the 2nd half, but he gave the team a huge lift before the break. At that time he had eight made baskets and no other spur had more than three. After the game, Castle said, “I feel like Keldon’s energy from the bench in the first half kind kept us in that game …” K. Johnson was also the only one on the team who made at least 10 field goals.
• Jeremy Sochan did not play that many minutes, but he was the backup center. His defensive versatility shone when he guarded Lillard and other circumference players, and he did well as a helper. He also gets extra points for being a good teammate by preventing Antetokounmpo from getting in Chris Paul’s face towards the end of the fourth quarter.
• Antetokounmpo got everything he wanted from 17 meters and in. He even dipped vicious at Wemby twice.
• Vassell restored two rebounds, which sets him on 999 for his career.