© Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
Giannis, Dame, Khris show out in Milwaukee’s win, outscore Golden State’s starting five
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and Khris Middleton wrought havoc on Saturday night when they led the Milwaukee Bucks to a 129-118 win over the Golden State Warriors.
The superstar trio combined for 84 points, outscoring the entire starting crew of Golden State, which scored just 69 points.
Giannis finished with 33 points, Dame fired 27, while Khris delivered 24.
The Bucks sealed the win by pouring in 46 points in the final quarter where Giannis and Khris combined for 27 points.
Vintage endgame Khris
Middleton was extra productive in the final quarter where scored 13 points on a 5-for-5 shooting from the field. He also had five points in the period.
“Khris was huge. We needed every single point. Khris is Khris. What he does especially in the fourth quarter, he gets into a rhythm, he gets going. Having him on the floor as a general and he’s calling plays, he’s getting us in the right spot, made some big time shots so Khris was phenomenal tonight,” said Milwaukee coach Adrian Griffin.
Dame sparked Milwaukee’s hot start, scoring 12 points in the opening period that ended with the Bucks on top, 33-24.
Griffin said Lillard’s strong start got the Bucks going.
“When he’s aggressive, we kind of go as he goes. He gives us that kind of confidence,” Griffin said.
Lillard also added seven assists and six rebounds.
“He’s starting to feel good. You could feel he’s starting to feel a lot more comfortable out there,” Griffin said.
While Giannis had a great scoring night, the Greek Freak didn’t force his shots and got his teammates involved, Griffin pointed out.
Chemistry continues to improve
Giannis had five of the Bucks’ 33 assists. Golden State only had 23 dimes.
“Giannis had 33 but he’s always still making the right play and that's important. It’s important for the spirit of the team when we're playing for each other,” said Griffin.
It was Milwaukee’s second-straight win after suffering back-to-back losses against Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz.
Griffin observed that his key players are starting to get comfortable playing together, but he reminded that it will entail a lot of work for them to be more effective on the court.
“I think Dame, Giannis and Khris and Brook (Lopez) they’re finding a rhythm but they have to fight for it. It’s not going to be handed to us. We got to fight for our spacing. We got to fight for our execution and when we do that we’re an elite team,” said Griffin.
