“Their star players, Wall and their back court (Beal) stepped up and made big plays”.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo did all he could to get the Milwaukee Bucks their first victory of the season, but Bradley Beal sparked a fourth-quarter rally that pushed the Washington Wizards to a 118-113 victory Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
“He’s taken my role for another night, ” Wall said. “Sessions hit a big 3, Brad hit a big 3, John [Wall] got one, too, and Nene gave us the passing because they wanted to try and get the ball out of our guards’ hands”.
Milwaukee led most of the game and got 26 first-half points from forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was making his 2015-16 debut after sitting out the opener on Wednesday because of a one-game suspension. That combo would knock down three-pointers on three-straight possessions, giving the Wizards a 111-104 lead with two minutes left.
The Wizards were down 13 at the start of the fourth quarter. “In the preseason it’s totally different”.
But former Bucks guard Gary Neal hit two clinching foul shots with 10.4 seconds remaining.
After only scoring 88 points against the Orlando Magic opening night, head coach Randy Wittman should be pleased with the offense as they scored 30 more points against a better defensive team.
“That stretch coming down the last half of the fourth was as good as we’ve played in terms of ball movement”, Wittman said. “We’re not guarding the ball”.
Bucks center Greg Monroe had 22 points and five rebounds, shooting guard Khris Middleton added 18 points and point guard Jerryd Bayless had 14 points and four assists off the bench.
Antetokounmpo was suspended for the first game of the season for a flagrant foul in Game 6 of the Bucks’ playoff series against the Chicago Bulls last season. He slammed Mike Dunleavy into the seats after taking a blow to the neck a play earlier. Michael Carter-Williams added his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 assists. It was the Wizards’ first lead since Marcin Gortat scored the first basket of the game.
He didn’t stand out in the box score, tallying just six points and six rebounds in 25 minutes, but did all the little things when the game was on the line. “We took it as a challenge…We picked up the slack from the first unit – they can’t do it all”.
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The Bucks were one of the league’s best defenses last season in winning 41 games.
