Doing most of the heavy lifting
Middleton pours in 40, carries Bucks to victory
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Bradley Beal went supernova, Giannis Antetokounmpo fouled out and the Milwaukee Bucks were in trouble on the road after leading the Washington Wizards by as many as 20 points.
Led by Khris Middleton with critical supporting plays by Eric Bledsoe and Robin Lopez, the Bucks did enough down the stretch to earn a 137-134 overtime victory over the Wizards on Monday night at Capital One Arena.
Beal, who finished with 55 points, caught fire for
22 in the fourth quarter to help the Wizards rally back from a 15-point deficit heading into the period.
It didn't help Milwaukee's cause that Antetokounmpo was severely limited by foul trouble, picking up his fourth early in the third quarter and his fifth less than a minute into the fourth. He exited the game after earning his sixth – called for shedding Moe Wagner on a cut – with 1:36 left and the Bucks' lead whittled down to just three.
Beal summarily tied the game with a three that gave the Wizards their first lead of the night with just over a minute left before Bledsoe tied it back up with a pair a free throws.
Middleton had a chance to give the Bucks the lead, but missed a long threepointer with 15.8 seconds left. He had been Milwaukee's rudder throughout the fourth quarter, scoring eight of his 40 points and dishing out three assists in that period, but he couldn't find his range from long distance.
That gave the Wizards a chance for the last shot. The ball went to Beal, who made the right play by passing to Rui Hachimura who was wide open in the post. As he went for the layup, though, Lopez came from behind him for a block and Milwaukee corraled the rebound and called timeout with one second remaining, giving the Bucks one last shot in regulation.
Coach Mike Budenholzer's play call nearly worked to perfection. He drew up a play for Middleton to curl past the sideline inbounded into the corner, a play the Bucks have used often this year. However, this time he added a new wrinkle. Instead of the ball going to Middleton, Pat Connaughton ran through the middle of the lane.
George Hill threw an alley-oop pass aimed at Connaughton, who was wide open streaking to the rim, but it was off the mark setting up overtime.
The Wizards kept their momentum going into the overtime session, building a lead as large as four with less than two minutes to go. That's when Middleton, who had missed six shots in a row spanning the end of the fourth quarter into overtime, started to get going.
He drew a foul and knocked down both free throws. After a rare Beal miss, Middleton snapped his shooting slump with a 21-footer to tie the game. With 31.2 seconds left and the game still tied, Middleton fired up a three-pointer from the top of the key that found the bottom of the net. Following a pair of Beal free throws, Middleton coolly sank two of his own with 7.8 seconds left.
Troy Brown Jr. nearly forced a second OT, but his corner three-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out, sealing the win.