Ready for the road
Victory sets table for longest trip of season
Milwaukee needed to make the most of its home-court advantage before heading out on a season-long sixgame trip. Consider it mission accomplished. The Bucks put seven players in double figures and survived a big night from Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns as they prevailed, 102-95, on Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. It was the Bucks’ season-high sixth straight victory and fifth in a row at home.
Tony Snell led Milwaukee (32-33) with 19 points, and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds in a grind-it--
out game. Matthew Dellavedova had 16 points and Khris Middleton contributed 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Towns hit 14 of 21 shots as he scored inside and out and finished with 35 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota (27-38). Ricky Rubio had 22 points and eight assists despite playing in foul trouble and being limited to 28 minutes.
Both teams were striving to improve their position in playoff races. Milwaukee stayed in eighth in the Eastern Conference, one-half game behind seventhplace Detroit, which defeated New York, 112-92. The Bucks moved within one game of sixth-place Indiana.
“You have two teams playing to get into the playoffs and to continue to have their season go into April and May,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said.
Towns proved difficult for the Bucks to handle as he worked free in the post and hit 8 of 11 shots while scoring 16 points in the first half.
Kidd used a two bigman lineup — with Greg Monroe and John Henson and later Henson and Spencer Hawes — to try to deal with Towns.
The Bucks shot only 42.6% in the first half but stayed close thanks to 5of-12 three-point shooting.
Dellavedova drilled a wing three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in the half to create a 48-48 tie.
Antetokounmpo had 12 points and five assists in the first half while Dellavedova had nine points and Snell added eight.
The Timberwolves had a 30-24 edge in points in the paint.
Towns hit a pair of three-pointers early in the third quarter as he showed off his versatility.
Henson scored off a lob from Middleton and on a goaltending call as the Bucks spurted to a 6456 lead.
But Minnesota responded with an 11-0 run to take a three-point lead before Snell sank a corner three to tie the score at 67-67 with 3:48 left in the quarter.
A three-pointer by Snell and a basket by Middleton gave the Bucks a 76-73 lead before Nemanja Bjelica’s tip-in at the buzzer cut Milwaukee’s lead to one point.
Rashad Vaughn scored on a drive and Monroe tipped in a miss by Jason Terry to give the Bucks an 83-77 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Rubio kept the pressure on the Bucks while utilizing the pick-and-roll and scored in the lane to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 95-93.
Antetokounmpo made two free throws with 2:36 left to give the Bucks a four-point lead.
Both teams wasted chances, with the Bucks committing a shot clock violation and a turnover before Antetokounmpo missed on a drive.
That gave Minnesota the ball after a timeout with 57.6 seconds left.
But the Timberwolves could not convert, and after the Bucks came up empty Andrew Wiggins missed a long threepointer and Dellavedova rebounded. The Bucks secured their victory with five free throws in the final 22 seconds, including three by Snell.