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MILWAUKEE – Khris Middleton is at the heart of the best season of his career, especially behind the 3-point line, where he has overturned more than 44% of his seven attempts per game. But Monday night against the Nuggets, he could not buy a triple.
Zero for seven players from outside the bow with less than a minute to play, he was running the risk of submitting his first game of the season without a 3. And it did not seem like that was going to change when he jumped a pass from Giannis Antetokounmpo with just over 30 seconds to play and the Bucks hooked to a two-point lead. By the time he regained control, Juancho Hernangomez was at the top of the key and the clock was closing. Then he took a dribble to his right, stepped back and threw a fadeaway to 3 pointers.
Cash. Bucks win.
After a brutal night of shooting, he hit not only the hardest look that he had had of 3, but also the most important one.
It was an appropriate way for the Bucks to seal their 104-98 win over the Nuggets. Although they did not play well for 48 minutes and things did not go as planned for most of the evening, they continued to fight and find a way to win a match. greenhouse. And in the process, they gained much needed confidence, especially in their next match against another Western Conference opponent, the Portland Trail Blazers, on Wednesday (at 8 pm, available on fuboTV via the NBA League's expansion). Pass here).
"There are so many tight games in one season of 82 games, and then you come in a playoff," said Bucks first-year head coach Mike Budenholzer, in postgame. "It's certainly good to build the confidence that the guys are going to play, that the guys are going to run and win, I think you're gaining confidence over the season, so the more we can get the best, I think we I will learn, I think there are things in terms of execution that we can improve with hindsight.But as Khris Middleton does not have a great game, but it hits the Huge shot at the end, I just think they are trusted builders for your team, for Khris, for all of us, so really good to find a way to win a tight match. "
Once again, the Bucks started slowly, 17 points behind early in the second quarter. Their powerful 3-point offense made them lose most of the night when they were only 11 out of 36 – they also missed nine free throws and returned the ball 14 times. It was not a good performance on the part of the Bucks.
But it's the type of party that showed the Bucks are about to separate, making it not only a good team, but also an excellent one. It's a phrase and a distinction that Giannis Antetokounmpo had used earlier this season: "We do not want to be a good team, we want to be a great team" – and he felt that Monday night's win was a sign that they were on the right track.
"I think the growth of this team is at the rendezvous today," said Antetokounmpo, who finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and marked the return of the team with a third quarter at 15 points. "We want to be a great team, and so far we have played exceptionally well and we need to keep improving and improving."
Of course, the Bucks do not always want to put themselves in the position of having to come back from a deficit of 17 points. However, for much of the season, they eliminated the teams with 10 of their 12 double-digit wins. These victories are easy. Getting a tough win on a difficult night, against another strong team, is a big step forward for a team of Bucks trying to break into the Eastern Conference.
"We realize how good and talented we are," said Antetokounmpo. "It does not matter the match, we know that we will make shots, we know that we will come back in the game."
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