Still struggling to finish
Late cold spell dooms Milwaukee
Washington — The lategame woes continue for the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks put themselves in a good position at the Verizon Center on Saturday, only to break down in the final 3 minutes as Washington seized a 110-105 victory.
John Wall led the Wizards (9-13) down the stretch and finished with 24 points and 11 assists, while Bradley Beal added 20 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. had a career-high 19 points and nine rebounds.
Wall drove for the goahead basket as he got past Greg Monroe to give Washington a 101-100 lead with 3 minutes 3 seconds remaining.
The Bucks’ Tony Snell lost the ball on the next possession, leading to a dunk by Oubre. Milwaukee had four empty possessions down the stretch, including a missed
three-pointer by Snell, a miss by Matthew Dellavedova and a travel called on Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee (11-11) lost its second game in as many nights before heading to Toronto to face the Raptors on Monday night. The Bucks blew a 20-point halftime lead to lose to Atlanta on Friday, but this time they had the lead much of the night before faltering at the end.
“You look at the 6-minute mark in (Friday’s) game and the 5-minute mark tonight and we came up with empty possessions,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. “We couldn’t get stops.
“You can’t turn the ball over late. I think we had 20 turnovers tonight and that led to a lot of points (24 by Washington). We shot a lot of threes in that 5-minute span. Our strength is the paint. We’ve got to get back to the paint and work inside-out.”
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, and Mirza Teletovic contributed 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting off the bench. John Henson had 14 points and Malcolm Brogdon 11.
“I think we’re a good team and we’re going to get better,” Teletovic said. “We’re going to fight through it.”
Teletovic sank a long three-pointer with 5.9 seconds left to bring the Bucks within 108-105, forcing a Wizards timeout.
Thon Maker entered to guard the inbound pass but the Bucks had to foul and Beal hit two clinching free throws with 5 seconds remaining.
“It’s going to be tough to win if you have empty possessions at the end and you can’t get a stop down the other end,” Dellavedova said. “I thought Mirza was unbelievable. It’s not easy to not play for a few games and then come out and do that when your number is called.
“He’s been doing a great job of staying ready.”
Dellavedova said it was no surprise Wall took over in crunch time.
“He’s got the ball in his hands and he’s going to be the one making the play whether he’s taking the shot or coming off the pick-and-roll and trying to get somebody else open.”
Antetokounmpo committed seven turnovers but was 11 of 18 from the field and played 41 minutes. He bounced back after a rough game Friday against the Hawks when he was limited by foul trouble.
“Giannis is an allstar,” said Wizards coach Scott Brooks. “I wasn’t in the league last year but he has improved a lot. He’s a handful. He has the longest stride. His jump shot has improved and his passing and rebounding.
“We tried to make it crowded for him, and he did turn the ball over a few times.”
Oubre took the defensive assignment against Antetokounmpo and did what he could.
“Just try to speed him up,” Oubre said of his strategy. “He’s a driver, a slasher. Just stay in front of him.”
The teams were tied at 52 at halftime. Milwaukee took a nine-point lead after the first quarter but the Wizards outscored the Bucks, 29-20, in the second quarter.
Henson scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the half and Antetokounmpo had 10 points.
Milwaukee went on a 10-2 run to open the third quarter but the Wizards responded with an 11-0 surge before Dellavedova ended it by hitting a three-pointer.