Spurs beat Bucks 144-118, Giannis and Chris Paul have words late

On February 1, 2025By Littum

San Antonio – Milwaukee Bucks Finished their first western conference tour of the season with a 1-3 brand after losing 144-118 to San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center Friday night.

Bucks squeezed a victory in Utah between Tab to Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers. They now go home briefly for a Sunday evening match against Memphis before going back on the road for a week.

Bucks (26-20) had hoped to take advantage of a fighting spurs (21-24) team that had lost eight of their last 10, but instead ran into an aggressive, hot-shooting youthful team that outscored Bucks 74- 47 in the second half.

Box score: Spurs 144, Bucks 118

Milwaukee was led by his large three of Giannis Antetokounmpo (35 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists), Damian Lillard (22 points, 7 assists) and Khris Middleton (21 points), but Taurean Prince was the only other player who reached double figures in scoring (13).

San Antonio had a more balanced effort behind Victor Wembanyama (30 points, 14 rebounds, 6 blocks), Keldon Johnson (24 points), Stephon Castle (20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists), Harrison Barnes (16 points), Devin Vassell (12) and Chris Paul (12).

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Chris Paul get warmed late in the game

With Bucks pulling 131-111 by 3 minutes, 46 minutes left in the game, Giannis Antetokounmpo drove to the basket and Spurs Guards Chris Paul was called on a personal error as he stumbled Antetokounmpo on his way to the basket. Antetokounmpo exempted the piece, which led to a heated exchange between Bucks’ Gary Trent Jr. And Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan, and a hot antetocounable who expresses his dissatisfaction with the play.

Security and coaches from each team quickly intervened to prevent any escalation, and the judges reviewed it to determine if Paul intentionally slipped his feet under Antetokounmpo. But after a relatively quick look, it was destined to be a common mistake. On the Bucks bench, Antetokounmpo was clearly upset, and when he went back on the field he immediately went to say something to Paul about the play, and again the players had to be separated.

During the break in the game subbed each team out of the regulars on the floor – except the Antetokounmpo and Paul. Bucks’ star made 1 out of 2, and then the couple was taken out.

After the buzzer, Antetokounmpo went to the center and stared down Paul, who remained on the spurs -the end of the floor. None of the players moved for quite a long time when Buck’s assistant coach Vin Baker waved with Paul to leave the court. Pat Connughton and Bucks Security stood in front of Antetokounmpo when Paul was waiting to be interviewed by Spurs Television. Eventually, Antetokounmpo left the floor.

Third quarter turn games on bucks

Milwaukee and San Antonio played 24 minutes of physical, fun, back and forth basketball, and Bucks took a 71-70 lead into the break. But in the third quarter, a rush of three-point curve of the spurs-one wave buried burned by a prayerful pair of Wembanyama-Bucks.

The sprouts opened the quarter by making their first 3 three-pointers, but they only led 81-79 before Bucks turned on a windy inbound game that saw an off-balance Lillard try to hit Brook Lopez near Halfcourt. The ball was stolen and eventually went to Wembanyama, which pulled up from approx. 28 meters without anyone around him. As the ball traveled to the edge, he leaned in hope, and when it sprayed through, he pumped the fist, and Bucks called Timeout down 84-79.

Milwaukee cut the deficit to three as Wembanyama escaped with a semi-course overgrowth-almost half of his size 20 ½ right foot was on the line and he lifted a 29-foot over Antetokounmpo rattling around the edge and out of the back plate and in in for a 91-85 lead.

The spurs then finished the quarter that outscored Bucks 24-16 to build as much as a 16-point lead.

In total, San Antonio exploded for the 45 point-most of a Milwaukee opponent in a third quarter this season-Tack be a 7-for-13 view behind the three-point line. The spurs were also 8-for-9 from the free-throwing line in the frame.

At the other end, Bucks struggled to keep up as they were only 3-for-10 behind the three-point line.

Spurs came into play with physical mindset

San Antonio played Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, and Wembanyama hit almost a fracture point after 7-foot, 240 pounds of Clippers Center Ivica Zubac gave Spurs’ big man a push in the back that sent him sliding on baseline.

Wembanyama got up and started charging at Zubac before being detained by his teammates, and after the game, Spurs publicly expressed their concern about how their new all-star was treated by opponents and officers.

Working head coach Mitch Johnson: “Not to go into detail, but he gets a lot of contact, and at one point he will have to continue to protect himself if other people or the people who control the game allegedly will not do the. “

Forward Jeremy Sochan, via San Antonio Express-News: “He will fight it for the next 20 years, you know? Everyone will go to him. … But here and there, you know, he has to show everyone that it is a (expressive) mistake and you better cool it. “

Wembanyama: “So it’s a difficult thing to fight because it feels unfair sometimes. But of course we’re talking about it with staff and there are some things I have to do to help myself. First of all, to be strong And not save out shots, but also there is some work to do.

As for how San Antonio could respond to such problems, Spurs -Guard Chris Paul kept it simple.

“We need to be a little more aggressive,” he said. “I think we were talking about the top five defense in the league or something similar, led the league in violations. We need to find out how we can be more aggressive. “

Welcome, Milwaukee.

Bucks came in on Friday with the league’s sixth best defensive rating (points allowed per 100 belongings) and the seventh best scoring defense in the league since November 12, which has catapulted them # 8 collected in the league in the defensive rating.

They have done this by leaning into their size and playing a physical brand Basketball, especially about 7-1, 280 Pound Center Brook Lopez and 7-Foot, 250 Pounds Forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“We are what we are,” said Buck’s head coach Doc Rivers after hearing about Spurs’ thinking. “It doesn’t change us. I always make the comment and I say so now, in 2008 I think it was 2-2 in (the NBA final), or whatever and I heard Lakers say they will look us up and I am like Oh, we just won the series. Because that’s who we are. We become who we are. So yes, we are good with it.

“Now, if they had said we will start running more, we would be like ‘oh my goodness, it’s a tough one!’ Everyone needs to be more physical. How to respond. I’m sure they’ll be more physical. And that’s fine. And if they are, I don’t think it affects us. “

Before the game, however, Rivers recognized Spurs’ statements could influence how the game would be officiated.

San Antonio was certainly aggressively defensively, with apparently whole lineup that challenged each Bucks attempt on the edge. They were also hard charging offense and drove into the teeth of the Bucks defense.

Bucks Guard aj Green returns from an injury

Green, one of the league’s leading three-point shooters, returned to action for the first time since January 17, after suffering a strained left quadricep in this game against Toronto. The 25-year-old missed five matches, the longest stretch he had to sit out due to injury in his three-year career.

Green played 18 minutes and was 0-for-2 behind the three-point line and 0-for-3 overall.

He went into the game against Spurs shooting 44.2% from Deep.

Five numbers

13: Play back in which Point Guard Ryan Rollins can be active after Friday’s game. Bucks have 36 games in regular season back. Rollins is a two-way player, and players signed for these offers can only be active in 50 games in a season-but head coach Doc Rivers said there is a chance that the team will make a list to move to full guarantee Rollins’ deal for the rest of the season.

18: Consideration double-double for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the third longest row in his career. He had 19 in a row in 2019 and a career high 20 just in 2020.

43: Ranks all the time in assists for Damian Lillard, who passed the former Bucks-Point Guard Sam Cassell (No. 43, 5,939) at the awarding of X Assists against Spurs. Lillard now has 5,943.

79: Consistent matches Victor Wembanyama has recorded at least one blocked shot.

9-13: Bucks Road Record. They have not been .500 this season since the start of the year 1-1 on October 27. They were 18-22 on the road last season. From 2018-23, they were one of the best teams on the road in NBA, where they prepared a 123-74 (62.4%) record away from the Fiserv Forum.

Victor Wembanyama first puts the All-Star Team

Friday evening’s game is the third between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama, perhaps the two most extraordinary, physically-gifted players in the NBA. The 7-foot Antetokounmpo has led Bucks to two wins over Spurs and the officially listed 7-3 Wembanyama (though he looks closer to 7-5).

Wembanyama enters the competition an average of 24.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per year. Battle and he was named his first All-Star team by the coaches as a Western Conference Reserve. Antetokounmpo average 31.7 points, 12.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists and was named his ninth straight all-star game as a starter.

Does Giannis play?

Yes. Although he has controlled pain in his right knee throughout the season, Antetokounmpo has not yet missed a game with the problem.

Damian Lillard added to the damage report

The morning after he was appointed his second straight all-star team as a member of Bucks, Point Guard Damian Lillard was added to the team’s injuries with tenderness in his left groin. He was on Milwaukee’s practice on Thursday and shooting Friday morning.

Before the game, Bucks said Lillard was available to play.

He has not missed a game since he sat four ranging from 20 to 26 December with a veal strain and illness.

Bucks Starting Setup

Guards: Damian Lillard, Andre Jackson Jr.
Frem: Taudean Prince, Giannis Antetokounmpo
Center: Brook Lopez

Which channel is Bucks on?

This game is not on national TV, so it will be simulated locally on Fanduel Sports Network and Wisconsin/WMLW M with Lisa Byington, Marques Johnson and Melanie Ricks on the call.

What time is the bucks game?

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. 7pm.

Bucks Damage Report

Bobby Portis Jr., Out (personal reasons)
AJ Green, Available (Left Quad stem)
Damian Lillard, Available (Left groin tenderness)
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Available (Right Patella Tendinopathy)
Khris Middleton, Available (Bilateral Ankle Surgery -Damage Management)

Bucks vs. Spurs Odds, Over/Under

Milwaukee is a 2.5-point favorite over San Antonio, and above/below is 233.5 for the game, per. Betmgm.