Game 45: Spurs' high-powered offense too much for Bucks

(1) Spurs score 144 (2) Wemby, Keldon, Castle, and Barnes (3) Fox Watch

Photo credit: @Spurs on X

Entering the Game

The Milwaukee Bucks were favored by 2.5 points entering the game. Of their core rotation players, the Bucks were only without Bobby Portis. The San Antonio Spurs had all their rotation players available.

This is the Story of a Game

The first half was close, with the Spurs building an early 11-point lead, but then Milwaukee quickly tied the game. The game turned around for the Spurs in the third quarter, where they outscored the Bucks 45-30 and went into the fourth with a 14-point lead. In the fourth, the Spurs got stops and continued to score on the other end. With 3:46 left and the Spurs holding a 20-point lead, both teams emptied their benches. The Spurs’ reserves went on to push the lead as high as 28 points, before ultimately winning by 26 points.

“It’s one more example of how we need to play,” said Victor Wembanyama after the game. “We didn’t let go the whole game. The game was consistently hard. So we make efforts for 40 minutes and you look up and we’re up 20, because the game was consistently hard, but there wasn’t one moment where we let them be and score on us, and make huge runs.”

“We’ll have to get inspired by that, but we’ll see. I hope that is the case.”

After the Win

With the win, the Spurs improved to 21-24 (still 12th out West). The Spurs are now 13-11 at home, 5-7 against the Eastern Conference, and they finish the season series tied with Milwaukee, by getting revenge, after the Bucks won by double digits earlier this month.

Up Next

By winning in a blow-out, the Spurs were able to get their starters a few extra minutes of rest with a back-to-back Saturday against the Miami Heat (23-23). After getting revenge against Milwaukee, the Spurs will also be seeking revenge against the Heat, who blew them out in Miami a few weeks ago.

Shot Location Scoring | Spurs Box Score | The Math Game

Here are the 3 items for this postgame edition:

• (1) Spurs score 144

• (2) Wemby, Keldon, Castle, and Barnes

• (3) Fox Watch

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(1) Spurs score 144