Donte DiVincenzo

Bucks hold off Pelicans for 4th straight win

February 26, 2021 By Bill Scott

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 38 points, Khris Middleton added 31 and Donte DiVincenzo added a career high 24 as the Milwaukee Bucks held off the New Orleans Pelicans 129-125 on Thursday night at Fiserv Forum.

Zion Williamson scored 34 points and Brandon Ingram added 23 for the Pelicans, who had won two straight.

The Pelicans took a 125-124 lead with 2:01 to play in the fourth quarter, then didn’t score again. The game was tight most of the way, featuring 15 ties and 23 lead changes.

The Bucks finished the first half of their season in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 20-13 record.

The game had plenty of offense and both teams shot well. The Bucks made 54.2% of their field goal tries, while the Pelicans converted on 50%.

The Bucks return to action on Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers at Fiserv Forum.

Bucks losing streak reaches five games

February 19, 2021 By Bill Scott

Norman Powell matched a season high with 29 points and Pascal Siakam added 27 to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 110-96 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night at Fiserv Forum. The Bucks losing streak extended to five years, their longest streak since the 2017 season.

Powell hit 9 of 12 from the field overall, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range and 7 of 8 at the free throw line. It’s the second win in three nights for the Raptors over the Bucks.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Bucks, before fouling out late in the game. Donte DiVincenzo added 14 points, Khris Middleton had 13, Brook Lopez 12 and Bryn Forbes had 11.

The Bucks trailed by as many as 23 points before closing the gap to 10 but couldn’t get any closer.

The Bucks host the Oklahoma City Thunder at Fiserv Forum on Friday night. They fell to the Thunder 114-109 in Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Giannis is All-Star starter

Before the game, Giannis Antetokounmpo was named an All-Star Game starter for the fifth straight season.

Raptors lose Lowry, beat Bucks

February 17, 2021 By Bill Scott

The Milwaukee Bucks dropped their fourth straight game, falling to the rival Toronto Raptors 124-113 on Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, but the Raptors held Khris Middleton to just 11 points as the Bucks fell to 16-12 on the season. The Bucks hadn’t lost four straight games previously since the Raptors won four straight in the 2019 Eastern Conference finals, blowing a 2-0 lead in the series.

Toronto played most of the second half without guard Kyle Lowry, who left with a sore ankle. He had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists in 22 minutes. Fred VanVleet scored 33 points and Pascal Siakam added 23 points and 13 rebounds for Toronto.

The Bucks were playing their first of eight straight home games and did so with about 250 invited guests and family members of players at Fiserv Forum for the first time this season. They plan to increase that total to 500 when the two teams face each other again on Thursday. Milwaukee will increase the number of fans in a phased process, expanding to 1,800 fans by Sunday.

Pat Connaughton had a season high 20 points and Bobby Portis added 16. Donte DiVincenzo had 12 points and eight assists but hit just 1 of 8 from 3-point range.

Bucks start road trip with victory in Cleveland

February 6, 2021 By Bill Scott

The Milwaukee Bucks started a six-game road trip with a 123-105 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night in Cleveland.

Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in 33 points and Jrue Holiday added 17 to lead the Bucks. Antetokounmpo started slow, partly because of early foul trouble, but he picked things up in the second half, where he scored 22 of his 33 points.

The Bucks outscored the Cavaliers 29-16 in the final quarter, winning their third straight. Bobby Portis had 14 points off the bench and Donte DiVincenzo had 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

Collin Sexton had 19 and Andre Drummond 18 for the Cavs.

The Bucks didn’t arrive in Cleveland until the day of the game after mechanical issues with their plane on Thursday while they were on the tarmac, sent them home for the night.

The Bucks improved to 7-0 against teams from the Central Division this season and will face the Cavaliers again on Saturday night in Cleveland.

Bucks coast in first meeting with Pacers

February 4, 2021 By Bill Scott

With a six-game road trip on the horizon, the Milwaukee Bucks were able to rest players and coast to victory over division foe Indiana, 130-110 on Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum.

Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t play in the fourth quarter, yet the reigning two-time MVP notched his third triple-double of the season, 21 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in the win. Antetokounmpo hit 7 of 8 field goal attempts and was 7 for 8 from the free throw line. In his last two games, Giannis combined to go 15 for 19 from the field and hasn’t attempted a three-point shot.

As a team, the Bucks hit 21 of 48 from 3-point range and have now made at least 20 3-pointers in five of their 21 games this season, which is a franchise record. [Read more…]

Bucks Drop Season Opener At Boston

December 24, 2020 By Bill Scott

Jayson Tatum nailed a go-ahead three-pointer with 0.4-seconds left to give the Boston Celtics a 122-121 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in their NBA season opener in Boston.

Giannis Antetokounmpo missed the second of two free throws at the end to seal the win for the Celtics.

Tatum finished with 30 points, while Jaylen Brown led the way with 33 for Boston. Jeff Teague also came off the bench to score 19.

Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 35 points and 13 rebounds, but committed seven turnovers in the contest. Khris Middleton added 27 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Newcomer Jrue Holiday had 25 points in his first game with the Bucks. [Read more…]

Bucks were busy overnight!

November 17, 2020 By Bill Scott

Bucks GM Jon Horst

Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst held a pre-draft Zoom call with reporters on Monday to discuss the latest on the team as the NBA Draft approaches Wednesday night, the ability to make trades starting yester (Monday) and free agency opening Friday. By the time the day finished, most of what Horst said became irrelevent.

Monday night, the Bucks pulled off a pair of big deals with New Orleans and Sacramento, hoping their all-in approach will convince star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign a Supermax deal with the team as early as Sunday.

The Bucks and Pelicans came up with a trade agreement with the Bucks getting all-star guard Jrue Holiday for Eric Bledsoe and George Hill as well as three first-round draft picks. The deal also allows the Bucks to swap picks with the Bucks in two other drafts. The deal is expected to leave the Bucks without their first round pick (24th overall) in Wednesday nights draft.

Following that deal, the Bucks sent Donte DiVincenzo, D.J. Wilson and Ersan Ilyasova to the Kings for Bogdan Bogdanovic and Justin James. DiVincenzo was the Bucks first round pick in 2018 while Wilson was taken in the first round in 2017.

The deals still leave the Bucks well over the salary cap with just seven players on their roster and little depth to speak of at the moment. It’ll leave Horst trying to build the rest of his roster with minimum contracts. [Read more…]

Bucks season comes to an end in Orlando (AUDIO)

September 9, 2020 By Bill Scott

With all-star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo watching from the bench, the Milwaukee Bucks season came to an end, falling to the Miami Heat 103-94 inside the bubble in Orlando.

The Bucks played some of their best defense of the season, forcing the Heat into 22 turnovers. But they didn’t have enough offensively to win their second straight and force Miami into a game 6. Instead, the Heat won the series four games to one and advance to the Eastern Conference finals against either Boston or Toronto.

The Bucks started strong, leading by as many as 13 points in the first quarter and led by nine at the break. But the Heat outscored Milwaukee 33-18 in the second quarter.

The Bucks fought their way back once again in the third quarter, crawling to within one-point at 57-56 with 9 1/2 minutes left. Then went 6 1/2 minutes without a field goal.

Khris Middleton, who led the Bucks with 23 points, hit just 3 of his 15 field goal attempts in the second half. Donte DiVincenzo got the start for the Bucks with Antetokounmpo out of the lineup. He scored 17 points and came through with another strong defensive showing. [Read more…]

Bucks end seeding games with loss, look ahead to playoffs

August 14, 2020 By Bill Scott

Playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo (league suspension), the Milwaukee Bucks dropped the final of their eight seeding games 119-106 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday afternoon in the bubble in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

A win for the Grizzlies would lock them into the Western Conference play-in game, keeping their season alive.

For the Bucks, they had nothing to play for and it showed. Brook Lopez led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds. Frank Mason III added 18 points and Donte DiVincenzo had 17 points to lead the way for the Bucks. Milwaukee finished 3-5 in their eight seeding games, but they did clinch the top record in the Eastern Conference early on.

The Bucks now turn their attention to the start of the playoffs. They’ll open their best-of-seven opening round against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday (12:30 p.m. – TNT).

Bucks struggles continue in loss to Raptors

August 11, 2020 By Bill Scott

The Milwaukee Bucks saw their record in seeding games drop to 2-4 inside the bubble near Orlando, falling Monday night to the Toronto Raptors 114-106.

The Bucks played without star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who underwent oral surgery earlier in the day. They also lost starting guard Wesley Matthews early with a right leg injury. But Toronto played without injured starters Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet, but the result heavily favored the Raptors.

The Bucks trailed by as many as 22 points early in the fourth quarter before the Bucks bench made a late push to close the gap. Kyle Korver led the way with 19 points, hitting 5-of-6 from three-point distance. Khris Middleton added 17 points, but the turnovers continued to pile up. Donte DiVincenzo had five and Middleton four of the teams 19 miscues.

A lack of defensive effectiveness meant the Bucks failed to get the ball out and run. It’s been a problem during the first six games of the restart. They have two games left before the start of the playoffs. The first of which is tonight against the Washington Wizards.