LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 10: (Photo by Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Milwaukee Bucks fell short against the L.A. Clippers, falling in overtime to a last-second shot by Lou Williams. Here’s what we can take away from the loss.
The Milwaukee Bucks played and lost their first overtime game of the season on Saturday, falling to the L.A. Clippers 128-126. It was the Bucks’ second loss in their last three games.
It was a frustrating day for the Bucks, as they struggled to consistently put together good possessions on both the offensive and defensive end. Despite that, they still had plenty of chances to leave L.A. with a victory.
Throughout most of the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Bucks and Clippers were separated by just one possession, but the Bucks couldn’t put together a run to come away with a win.
Eric Bledsoe was able to tie the game with just six seconds left on the Bucks’ final possession of regulation, hitting a step-back three-pointer after the Bucks offensive play seemed to fall apart.
In the overtime, the Bucks seemed to be-be on the verge of running away with the game, as Giannis Antetokounmpo had a thunderous alley-oop dunk on their first possession of the extra frame, followed by two defensive stops. But the Bucks couldn’t put space between themselves and the Clippers.
Then, with the game tied at 126, Lou Williams, who had 13 points off the bench, hit a mid-range shot with just 0.3 seconds remaining to seal the game for the Clippers. It capped a game where the Bucks didn’t play well, but still probably could have won if they’d just executed well enough in the last couple of possessions.
The bright spot of the game was the second quarter, where the Bucks continued their dominance of the frame so far this season by outscoring the Clippers 40-29, propelling them a two-point halftime lead. The rest of the game, however, was one to forget for the Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo put up another ridiculous stat line, with 27 points, 18 rebounds, four assists, five steals, and two blocks, but his struggles at the free throw line and with turnovers hampered him throughout.
Khris Middleton also struggled on the day, scoring only 14 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
Malcolm Brogdon followed up his strong game against Golden State on Thursday with another solid performance, putting up 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field.
While Brook Lopez had another stellar shooting performance for the Bucks, going 6-of-12 from beyond the arc for 20 points. Four of those makes came in the second quarter, igniting the Bucks’ best offensive run of the game.
The Clippers’ player of the game would probably go to forward Montrezl Harrell, who came off the bench to pour in 26 points. Harrell bullied the Bucks’ bench lineups down low, grabbing six offensive rebounds and getting to the line 11 times during the game. With Lopez off the floor, the Bucks had no answer for him.
Let’s get to the takeaways from the disappointing loss for Milwaukee.
