Allow me to introduce one of the hottest teams in the entire
NBA: the Milwaukee Bucks.
After a dominating 120-98 road win over the Golden State Warriors on Friday
night, the Bucks have now won five straight games and scored at least 105
points in all of them. This was also Milwaukee's third consecutive game with 30
or more assists, dishing out 33 against the Warriors just one game after
setting the best mark for any NBA team this season with 38 on Wednesday against
Cleveland.
"Our guys have pretty much the whole season done a nice job of that,
trying to play unselfishly," coach Scott Skiles said after the game on
"Bucks Live" on FOX Sports Wisconsin. "It's something we put a
lot of emphasis on, do a lot of work on and guys are doing it. The ball moves
around, we tend to find the open man and we're getting better at it."
Making all of those assists even more impressive was that Milwaukee had only
eight turnovers in Golden State.
The win improved the Bucks to 20-24 this season and kept them locked into a tie
for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The New York Knicks
also won on Friday to keep pace with Milwaukee. If the season ended now, the
Bucks would win the tiebreaker given that they've won both head-to-head
matchups, though the two teams will face off two more times later this season.
Friday also marked the Bucks debuts of Monta Ellis and Ekpe Udoh, and,
coincidentally, it was played in the city that both players had called home for
their entire careers prior to being traded to the Bucks on Wednesday. With
Andrew Bogut (fractured ankle) on Golden State's bench, the biggest piece the
Bucks sent to Northern California watched Ellis score 18 points to go along
with four assists, four rebounds and three steals in a team-high 39 minutes.
Udoh did not score in 19 minutes off the bench, but had four rebounds and one
block.
"For (Udoh) and Monta, it's been a heck of a couple days," Skiles said.
"There's a human element to this. You're notified that you're traded, you
fly out, all they have is a shoot around and then get out and play."
Regarding Udoh, Skiles said, "We think he's a good, young big-man
prospect."
Ersan Ilyasova was unable to play due to illness, but Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
stepped into that starting spot and had a career night with 22 points and 17
rebounds, with nine of those boards on the offensive end. Mbah a Moute had two
more offensive rebounds than the entire Warriors team. This was Mbah a Moute's
second consecutive double-double.
Six Bucks players scored in double figures, led by Mike Dunleavy with 24 points
(on only eight field-goal attempts).
Golden State was playing without Bogut and Stephen Curry due to injuries. Newly
acquired Richard Jefferson — whom the Warriors received in a trade
for Stephen Jackson the day after completing the deal with Milwaukee — was
unable to play as he had not yet taken his physical with San Antonio.
In what is a very unique road trip for the Bucks — especially considering the
condensed schedule that this lockout-shortened 66-game season has created —
they will not play again until Tuesday night in Portland after three days off
along the West Coast. Fortunately for Skiles, this will give him time for a
couple of practices to teach his new players more of the team's offensive sets.
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