Awful loss for Bucks
Milwaukee gives a game away, losing in Denver, 128-125, in overtime.
DENVER - This April Fool’s Day game was all about huge, inexplicable comebacks, with the margin of each quarter between 12 points or more one way or the other. And just when it looked like the Milwaukee Bucks had the game in hand, the joke was on us.
The Bucks, who led by as many as 18 with 7 1⁄2 minutes remaining, let the Denver Nuggets get back into the game but were on the way to escaping with their first win in Denver since 2010. With 4.1 seconds left, Milwaukee owned a three-point lead and just needed to inbound the ball and get fouled to seal the win.
Easy, right? Nope.
Khris Middleton’s inbound pass was picked off, leading Jamal Murray to the other end of the court. Murray then fired up an off-balance, leg-flailing three-pointer that bricked off the iron and seemed to end the game.
But there was a whistle. Jason Terry was called for a foul for taking out Murray’s right leg. Murray then made all three free throws to tie it with 2.8 seconds left, Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe stepped out of the bounds on the ensuing play and the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic missed a shot to bring on overtime.
Denver got out to a five-point lead in overtime and never trailed, handing the Bucks one of their most gutwrenching, frustrating losses of the season, 128-125, at Pepsi Center. The Bucks fell behind by as many as seven in overtime but had a chance at a tie with the shot clock off, but Jabari Parker missed a three-pointer — he pump-faked trying to draw a foul — and the shot didn’t come close.
Parker led the Bucks with 35 points and Bledsoe finished with 27. Jokic carried the Nuggets with 35 points and 13 rebounds while Murray finished with 27 points and Paul Millsap added 25 points and 13 rebounds.
The Bucks played the final 3 minutes 43 seconds of regulation and all of overtime without all-star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who exited the game in a blaze of abject frustration. Carrying five fouls, Antetokounmpo subbed in with the Bucks trying to cling to a 10-point lead. Ten seconds later he fouled out, called for an offensive foul while spinning against Jokic.
Antetokounmpo was furious with the call and charged at the official after learning the reason for the whistle. He was given a single technical foul, had to be restrained by Middleton and was ejected — without receiving a second technical.
Still, the Bucks had every chance to finish off the victory, which would have given them a 3-1 road trip and moved them into a tie with the Washington Wizards in the playoff standings.
As crazy as the end of the game was, it was just an extension of the rest of the contest. The Bucks, led by 10 points from Parker, took a 12-point margin in the second quarter before absolutely melting down.
Denver opened the second quarter on a 13-4 run before coach Joe Prunty called a timeout to adjust his lineup. His few changes didn’t fare much better. The Bucks consistently got inside but couldn’t buy a bucket, missing their next 10 field-goal attempts. Milwaukee grew even more frustrated as, at the other end, they kept getting called for fouls including one stretch of five straight Denver possessions ended in free throws.
By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, the Nuggets held a 63-54 advantage thanks to dominating the Bucks in a 41-20 quarter. Nearly half of Denver’s second-quarter points came at the charity stripe where they went 19 of 21 thanks to 11 Bucks fouls, a defensive three seconds call and a technical foul assessed to a frustrated Bledsoe, who ended the Bucks’ field-goal drought then chirped at the refs, likely saying he had been fouled and lobbying for calls to go both ways.
Undaunted, the Bucks bounced back in a big way in the third quarter. Bledsoe put up 14 points in the period and Parker had nine as Milwaukee dominated the quarter, 38-16.
But they couldn’t hold on. BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
The team that runs together: During Sunday’s pregame, injured Bucks point guard Malcolm Brogdon spent some extra time on the court while his teammates were still in the locker room. When the Bucks came out onto the court, Brogdon was already there doing sprints from sideline to sideline.
Parker saw Brogdon putting in work and with a big grin on his face decided to join his injured teammate, chasing him across the court multiple times. Seeing this, Antetokounmpo decided to jump in as well for a couple sprints in a show of solidarity.
UP NEXT
Teams: Milwaukee Bucks (41-36) vs. Boston Celtics (53-23).
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Where: BMO Harris Bradley Center.
About the Celtics: Boston lost three rotation players in a span of a couple days in mid-March with allstar Kyrie Irving going out for three to six weeks due to a left knee procedure, Marcus Smart undergoing surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right thumb and Daniel Theis going down for the season with a torn meniscus in his left knee. The Celtics have hardly missed a beat without those three players, though, winning seven of their nine games without them including a current six-game win streak. Boston’s most recent victory came over the East-leading Toronto Raptors, 110-99, Saturday.