Khris Middleton got his first win over the Milwaukee Bucks since the trade last season, as his Washington Wizards upset the visitors. Kevin Porter Jr. led the Bucks with 30 points before leaving the game with an injury, while Giannis had 26 points. C.J. McCollum led the Wizards with 28 points, while Middleton added 15, with eight coming in the fourth quarter.
The game was pretty even throughout the first half of the quarter, with neither team building up much of a lead. Milwaukee started to pull away in the later stages of the quarter, with AJ Green sparking an 8-2 run with a three-pointer. That run gave the Bucks a seven-point lead, forcing Wizards head coach Brian Keefe to call a timeout. The Bucks’ lead reached 10 points, and they maintained it throughout the quarter. By the end of the first 12 minutes, the Bucks went into the second quarter up 34-28.
Washington started to string some scores together to start the second quarter thanks to Milwaukee turnovers. After a lob from Justin Champagnie to Cam Whitmore, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers called a timeout. Both sides struggled to find a rhythm on offense; by the 6-minute mark of the quarter, they had combined for just 27 points, after scoring 62 in the first quarter. The scoring did pick up with C.J. McCollum scoring seven straight for Washington to match what Milwaukee was putting up. After Middleton found Marvin Bagley for a layup, the Bucks went on a 9-2 run in the final two minutes of the frame. KPJ finished it off with a step-back three with 12 seconds left to send Milwaukee up by eight, 66-58, heading into halftime.
After scoring 17 points in the first half, KPJ didn’t stop his outstanding performance. He hit back-to-back threes to give the Bucks their largest lead of the game at 16 points, leading to another Wizards timeout. Washington flipped the script on Milwaukee, though, going on a 20-5 run after those threes to bring the game within one point. The Wizards were able to tie it up after another dunk from Whitmore with 51 seconds left. The Bucks were able to get a five-point cushion with seven seconds left after a Gary Trent Jr. three-pointer and a Jericho Sims tip-in. But Bub Carrington slipped by Bobby Portis to get a layup to make it a three-point game, 94-91, heading into the fourth quarter.
This one remained tight through the early stages of the fourth quarter. Porter hit his fifth three-pointer of the game to hit the 30-point mark, making it a five-point game, leading to another Wizards timeout. Unfortunately for Porter and the Bucks, he seemed to be grabbing his back with 6:37 and was subbed out for the rest of the game. Washington took advantage, as a McCollum pull-up jumper gave them a one-point lead with 5:16 to go. The two teams went back and forth before Middleton pulled out some of his vintage stuff. He hit a floater while being fouled by AJ Green, but missed the free throw. Then, after a Giannis miss, Middleton hit a three to take a two-point lead with 53 seconds left. Giannis got fouled with a chance to tie the game, but only went 1/2 from the line, and McCollum came back the other way and drilled a three with 14 seconds left to put the Wizards up by four. On the ensuing possession, Milwaukee turned the ball over, and Bilal Coulibaly had an and-one dunk. Green hit a three at the buzzer, leading to the final score.
Even with no Alex Sarr for the Wizards, they dominated the paint, scoring 58 paint points to the Bucks’ 34. The Bucks also allowed 15 offensive rebounds and were outrebounded by two, 52-50.