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During three quarters, Derrick Rose, Anthony Tolliver and Taj Gibson shredded the Milwaukee Bucks by a total of 52 points.

Of course, the Bucks were celebrating the 90's at the Fiserv Forum, but the 30-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves trio was certainly not the kind of nostalgic trip they were looking for.

Facing a starless Timberwolves team, Karl-Anthony Towns, who missed the match while he was in the concussion protocol, the Bucks fought all night. Their defense was largely absent for the first 36 minutes. Sterling Brown kicked a pass behind Khris Middleton's back. Milwaukee gave Minnesota the lead by scoring five fouls just over three minutes into the third quarter.

THE SCORE OF THE BOX: Bucks 140, Timberwolves 128

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No doubt the situation was ugly for the home team who was heading to the fourth quarter with two points behind.

However, everything changed in the final period, as the Milwaukee defense was well prepared to set the stage for a decisive 18-2 run that took the Bucks to a 140-128 win on Saturday night.

"We are not very happy with our defense, but we have the merit of finding a way to have a decent fourth quarterback decent enough and play enough so that we can win a match," said L & # 39; Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. "Certainly not our best tonight …

"I guess it's hard to argue with 140 points."

The win was the Bucks' fourth in a row and placed them at 45-14 this season, eclipsing their total victories for all of last season. He also scored his fifth game with 140 points or more this season, which is more than 140 points and more than the last 30 combined years of the franchise (four).

Khris Middleton led all scorers with 28 points, including 20 in the second half and seven rebounds. He caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 5-5 over three minutes, 13 consecutive points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored the first 11 points in Milwaukee and finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

Five other teammates, including Brook Lopez (19 points), Nikola Mirotic (17 points), Malcolm Brogdon and Eric Bledsoe, 16 points, have joined the two-star Bucks. Ersan Ilyasova completed the two-digit markers with 13 points, including making 3 of 4 three points.

"We have a lot of guys who can play," said Antetokounmpo, "five, six guys can play, everybody can hit, we play without selfishness, we really have a lot of talent in this team and a lot of people who can be dangerous all night long. "

Until the fourth quarter, the match was played in a 12-point window. The Bucks doubled their lead up to eight points, without ever breaking the game. Tolliver played an important role in keeping the position tight early, achieving five of his first six throws, including four to three, and adding an impressive block of Antetokounmpo, rarely seen, to the rim.

Tolliver and Rose scoring almost at will – Rose leading Minnesota with 23 points and Tolliver meaning 17 -, the Timberwolves' bench had a major impact in keeping the game tied for three quarters, clearly winning the match played against the bench at Milwaukee.

The Bucks bench was a low player for most of the game because George Hill slipped on a player while he was about two minutes left in the first quarter and suffered from a strain of left adductors playing in the first quarter before missing the rest of the match. Budenholzer did not have much update to provide on Hill's status after the match.

"I know we hope very much that it is something minor or minor," said Budenholzer.

The Timberwolves were ahead of two early in the fourth when the Bucks started their push.

Ilyasova and Bledsoe dropped buckets. Ilyasova then splashed a three-pointer and Antetokounmpo added a pair of free throws to allow the Bucks to run 9-0.

After a Gibson rider, Antetokounmpo responded with a dunk followed about a minute later by a Middleton three-pointer who gave the Bucks their first double-digit lead of the night at 125-115. A mirotic layup and two free throws at Middleton completed the second leg of the quarter (9-0) and put the win away.

All the while, the Milwaukee defense has been strengthened. Mirotic, Antetokounmpo and Lopez each had a steal and a block in the 18-2 set. The Timberwolves also struggled to find their good looks: they went from one of the last ten to the ground while the Bucks went from two to 14 before.

"It's (time) to win," said Bledsoe. "No matter how we play throughout the game, we know that the fourth quarter is a time saver and we have to deal with everything …

"I think it's growth. We have been in situations where we have allowed the teams to come back and situations in which we were in trouble, as in the last game (and) we had to get by. We knew we had to pick it up at some point. I have the impression that it is growth. "

Although they took over in the fourth quarter, the Bucks know that they will not always be able to reverse the switch. They can not always give 70 points in the first period, followed by a third quarter at 39 points.

This is not a formula that will usually lead to wins. It was Saturday night, but they are happy. There is a lesson to be learned and improvements to be made, but the Bucks are looking forward to hearing from a victory rather than a defeat.

"We are going to win a win, even an ugly victory, a great win," said Antetokounmpo, "but at the end of the day we need to improve, because when the playoffs are coming, when the games matter most, when we play really, very good teams you have to play defense. "