"Obviously coming down I'm thinking about trying to find the seam, trying to find the gaps to get downhill and get in the paint but once I see jerseys moving I know my teammates are ready to shoot and I've got to deliver them the ball."Īntetokounmpo scored the next five points for the Bucks to help them keep the lead and then Middleton scored five straight points to give the Bucks some breathing room at 117-109 with just under four minutes to play. "Just gotta be in the moment as much as possible so your instinct can take over," Antetokounmpo said of finding Allen and Portis even when he is an an aggressive mindset.
The final 12 points in that run were fueled by Antetokounmpo, as he scored six and assisted on three-pointers by Grayson Allen and Bobby Portis. I think those two things were it, especially the defense.” Giannis had a great game, led the charge, was dominant in the paint, especially in the fourth quarter. “Took away most of their three balls, inside the paint, offensive rebounds, we were just pushing it. “It was the just defensive stops,” Middleton said of the game-changing run. "I wanted to be aggressive, the team wanted me to be aggressive and it kind of worked out in our favor tonight."Īntetokounmpo was dominant throughout and he keyed a game-changing 15-3 run in the fourth quarter that flipped a 98-90 Houston lead to a 105-101 Bucks advantage with 7 minutes, 19 seconds to go. "Last game I wasn't as aggressive as I wanted," Antetokounmpo said.
That set him up for a 41-point, 17-rebound, 5-assist effort despite playing through a thigh bruise suffered in the Heat game. “We dropped one against Miami and I think that was the main thing – just come out and be aggressive and get a win, most importantly.” “He just wanted to come out and set a tone,” Khris Middleton said of his longtime running mate. More: With more opportunity, Pat Connaughton is off to the hottest start of his career for Milwaukee BucksĪntetokounmpo felt he had not been very aggressive offensively in a loss to Miami on Wednesday, and he set a different tone out of the gate Friday with 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting. More: NBA championship, new season, and holiday gift shopping drive strong sales for Milwaukee Bucks gear If they keep playing like this they're going to keep getting better each year." They have to play together, they have to shoot the ball real well, they have to put themselves in position to be successful. They don't have a big star, superstar that takes all the possessions. "We knew coming in today they're going to play extremely hard against us and try to prove themselves.
"They're playing great," Giannis Antetokounmpo said of the Rockets. The victory was the Bucks’ 11th in 13 games and moved their record to 17-10. The Bucks snapped the Rockets’ seven-game win streak with a 123-114 victory Friday night at the Toyota Center, a run that began with a victory over the Bulls and concluded with one over the Nets on Wednesday. The Milwaukee Bucks did something that Eastern Conference leaders Brooklyn and Chicago couldn’t do in the last two-and-a-half weeks, and that was beat the Houston Rockets.