Monday night’s game was a “must-have” win for the Milwaukee Bucks as they traveled to Pepsi Center Arena to face off against the Western Conference’s Denver Nuggets. After a very close first half Milwaukee finally broke loose from the Nuggets and pulled out a major victory by 12 at the end of the game, the final being 125-112.
This was the first time this season that these two teams from each conference met to play each other. Going into the match, the Nuggets had their work cut out for them as Milwaukee was comfortably sitting near the top of their conference; Denver was down near the middle. It was evident the favored team was the visiting rivals, but the Nuggets did not go down easy.
The beginning of the game was quite exciting, both groups putting forth tremendous efforts posting points. Michael Porter Jr. and Will Barton went to work for the Nuggets and had an outstanding first quarter; leading their team to finish the first half of the game with a score of 42-37 in their favor.
Although the Nuggets were stoked to have a decent lead heading into the next quarter, Milwaukee came out more powerful than the first time around. Just over two minutes into the second quarter, Milwaukee regained the lead but fell short once again, not too much later. In particular, Khris Middleton played very hard and made his name known to his opponents, going into halftime with a score of 62-59, the Nuggets still on top, but the gap indeed close.
Despite a first-half victory, the Nuggets did not show up afterward. Instead, Milwaukee got right down to business and began to connect as a team rather than play “every man for himself,” like it seemed they were doing at the start. Once again, Milwaukee earned the lead back only a few minutes into the third quarter, but this time they would stay there for the rest of the match. There were times when the Nuggets would close the gap to a point difference, but Milwaukee was always prepared and did not let them have a comeback.
It is clear that even though Milwaukee obtained another victory, they struggled from the start to get in the right groove. What made all the difference was two significant factors when they came out of the locker room to start the second half: time and patience. Milwaukee slowed down and gave themselves time to make big plays instead of shooting pointless shots and allowed the opportunities to come to them by getting each man on the court involved.
With that win, Milwaukee remains in 2nd place, but much closer to the Eastern Conference title than they were. They are now only 1 win needing the 76ers to lose one of their remaining games to officially be on top. The Bucks are at least 3 games ahead of the Nets, who are currently sitting in third with a record of 14-11. For Milwaukee to drop down, they need to lose their next three games and Brooklyn to win their next three. However, with the way the Bucks have been playing, it does not seem likely that that will occur.
Up Next
Milwaukee remains on the road to head to Talking Stick Resort Arena to go head-to-head with the Phoenix Suns. The game is set for February 10th with tipoff at 10:00 ET; streamed on ESPN, NBA League Pass, and Fox Sports North.
Denver will look to recover from their loss at home and take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at Pepsi Center Arena on February 10th at 9:00 ET. This match can be watched on NBA League Pass, Fox Sports Ohio, and Altitude.
