By Wole Akinso
Washington, DC— In a game that many didn’t expect to win, the Washington Wizards held off Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee Bucks 117-113. The Wizards (15-61) were a +13 underdog in the matchup with the Bucks (47-28) but that didn’t matter to the Wizards players.
“Nobody believed that we were going to win this game tonight, but we did,” said Wizards forward Deni Avdija.
Avdija finished the game with 23 points. He was so proud of his team’s effort tonight against one of the favorites to win the NBA Championship.
“I think this is one of our best wins this season. We competed. I think we competed knowing that it doesn’t matter what seed the Bucks are. It doesn’t matter what players. I think everybody took the challenge today. You saw the defense on Giannis. It was collective. Honestly, it was a really good game from start to finish—defensively, offensively.”
Even though former NBA MVP Antetokounmpo finished the game with 35 points 15 rebounds and 10 assist, Wizards players, such as forwards Anthony Gill, Tristan Vukcevic and Eugene Omoruyi, fought Antetokounmpo tooth and nail on multiple Bucks’ offensive possessions.
The Wizards attacked Antetokounmpo in the first quarter of the game; resulting in him recording his second foul at the 4:26 mark of the quarter. At that time, “The Greek Freak” had five points, five rebounds and five assists. The Wizards showed early that they weren’t going to back down to the Bucks.
Wizards guards Jordan Poole and Corey Kispert helped the Wizards take a 58-54 lead going into half-time. In the first half, the duo combined for 23 points and six assists. Poole “managed the game,” said interim Wizards coach Brian Keefe. He added that Poole “set the table” for his teammates. Poole finished the game with 16 points and a career high 13 assists. His counterpart, Kispert, finished the game with 27 points. Coach Keefe talked about the pressure Kispert put on the Bucks offensively.
“He just generates so much offense for us. I think you guys see this like the cutting, the moving, obviously the shooting but it’s more than that. He’s rolling to the basket, the drives. He’s like a one-man motion— an old school John Havlicek.”
Washington started the third quarter going on a 12-1 run, giving them a 70-55 lead. The Wizards faithful in Capital One Arena were rocking. However, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks would not go away. After the Wizards took a 84-70 lead, the Bucks ended the quarter on 16-7 run to cut the Wizards lead to 91-86.
The vibe changed. Bucks’ fans in the arena were louder and it seemed that the Wizards were on the verge of squander another big lead. However, tonight wasn’t that night.
In the fourth quarter, the Wizards counter everything the Bucks did. When it seemed that the Bucks had the momentum, Wizards guard Jared Butler hit two big three-pointers to help the Wizards go on a 9-2 run and stretch their lead to 100-88 but Antetokounmpo wasn’t having that. The Greek Freak willed the Bucks back by scoring five points within a 7-0 run to cut the Wizards lead to 100-95.
Yet again the Wizards had a counter. The Buck cut the Wizards lead to 104-102 and Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers took Antetokounmpo out with six-minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Wizards took advantage of that and stretched their lead to 110-104.
Antetokounmpo returned to the game at the 3:55 mark and cuts the Wizards lead to 110-106 after making a driving layup. The Wiz fans were getting tight and nervous but never fear Kispert was their to turn the tide. Kispert hit a big three on an assist by Avdija to help the Wizards stretch their lead to a 113-106 lead with 3:22 left on the clock.
Wizards guard Poole iced the game with a key steal on Antetokounmpo with 44 seconds left to put the game away.
The Wizards played excellent team ball throughout the night. “It was a team effort, everybody contributed,” said coach Keefe.
The Bucks were without all-star Dame Lilliard, who had a groin injury and Wizards forward Marvin Bagley III went down in the first quarter with an apparent knee injury.
The Wizards will have to get their lives in order to take on the Los Angeles Lakers, tomorrow night at 7 pm ET.
