Boracay Island, Philippines – Khris Middleton scored 40 points, including his team’s last nine, to help the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks survive the Washington Wizards in overtime 137-134 on Monday night (Tuesday morning, Philippine time) at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
Middleton shot 15-for-28 from the field and was perfect in eight attempts from the charity stripe. He also had 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Eric Bledsoe added 23 points, 7 boards, and 10 dimes for Milwaukee.
Reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo fouled out and only played a total of 25 minutes to finish with 22 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and committed an uncharacteristic 8 turnovers for the Bucks, who improved to 49 wins and 8 losses for the league’s top ranking.
Bradley Beal followed up his erstwhile career-high 53 points in a loss to the Bulls the night before, with a 55-point outburst versus Milwaukee, including 22 in the 4th frame and 7 in the overtime period.
Shabazz Napier added 27 markers off the bench for the Wizards, who dropped to a 20-36 win-loss card, which is only good for 9th spot in the Eastern Conference team standings.
The Wizards will next host the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night (Thursday morning, Philippine time).
Meanwhile, the Bucks will travel to Toronto to face the defending champion Raptors on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, Philippine time).
How they scored:
Bucks 137 – Middleton 40, Bledsoe 23, Antetokounmpo 22, Hill 14, DiVincenzo 12, R. Lopez 11, Matthews 10, Connaughton 3, Ilyasova 2
Wizards 134 – Beal 55, Napier 27, Smith 13, Hachimura 12, Mahinmi 10, Wagner 8, Robinson 5, Brown 4,
AROUND THE LEAGUE: (Road Team – Home Team)
ATL 112 – 129 PHI MIA 119 – 125 CLE (OT) ORL 115 – 113 BKN NYK 112 – 123 HOU MIN 123 – 139 DAL PHX 131 – 111 UTAH MEM 97 – 124 LAC
GAMES TODAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2020 CT
CHA @ IND 8:00 AM CT MIL @ TOR 8:30 AM CT OKC @ CHI 9:00 AM CT DET @ DEN 10:00 AM CT BOS @ POR 11:00 AM CT NOP @ LAL 11:00 AM CT SAC @ GSW 11:30 AM CT
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