Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez power Bucks to 119-106 victory over Clippers

LOS ANGELES – The Milwaukee Bucks won their 10^th straight game, a season-best streak, on Friday night with a 119-106 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena.

It is their first winning streak of at least 10 games since ripping off 18 in a row in 2019-20. The Bucks improved to 39-17 overall and the Clippers fell to 31-28.

"Oh, we won 10 in a row? Do we do it already? Nine? Eh," Bucks guard Jrue Holiday said. "I mean, we're going into all-star break so I feel like we like the groove that we're going into but we want to continue that also. There's a point in the season where things kind of get repetitive, you know? And winning, I guess has been. I didn't know."

The Clippers were a bit shorthanded, as star Kawhi Leonard was out for injury management reasons and four other players were out due to trades. The Bucks were without Khris Middleton for injury management, as was the newly acquired Jae Crowder.

Bucks lean on Brook Lopez

Milwaukee and Los Angeles had different approaches to playing without 20-point per game scorers in Khris Middleton and Kawhi Leonard on Friday night.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was extremely aggressive in looking for his shot, and Jrue Holiday was eyeing spots to flex his scoring muscle. Antetokounmpo led the team with 35 points on 13-of-25 shooting, and Holiday had 19 on 7-of-16 – but it was the biggest of the Bucks that had the most impact.

Center Brook Lopez was a force in the middle of the paint and consistent throughout the game, giving the Bucks a steadying presence when Antetokounmpo’s shots didn’t fall and Holiday had turnovers. Lopez scored 14 points in the second quarter in putting up a 16-point, 12-rebound first half. He made 7 of his 10 shots, including 2 for 3 from behind the three-point line.

Lopez finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. He also had three blocks. hit a key three-pointer in the fourth quarter to seal off the Clippers.

"We didn't have Khris and Bobby (Portis) today and Brook step up big time," Antetokounmpo said. "In the (first) half he had I think 16 or 18 points, came down and made some big threes for us in the second half, defensive rebounds. He's big. And not only him scoring the ball, but the screens he sets, he draws so much attention. He's a threat out there. He's been playing really good for us."

For Los Angeles, Paul George took the lead in shot creation by attempting 23 and scored a team-high 19 points, but with Holiday on him most of the night he had to work for all of it. and made just eight shots. He was just 3 for 11 from behind the three-point line. George also handed out a team-high six assists and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.

BOX SCOREBucks 119, Clippers 106

The Clippers tried to spread the wealth, with all eight players who played scoring and Marcus Morris Sr. (15 points), Terrence Mann (10) and Norman Powell (16 off the bench) all reaching double figures.

Jevon Carter led the other seven Bucks who played in scoring with nine as the group combined for just 32 points before Los Angeles pulled its starters with 4 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game – but they also hit timely shots in the fourth quarter to give their team a double-digit lead they would not relinquish. Carter opened the quarter with a three-pointer, and Pat Connaughton (8 points) and Grayson Allen (7 points) added timely buckets.

"The start of the fourth quarter, we kind of changed our rotation a little bit," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said. "Giannis played almost the whole third quarter, Jrue (did) which is kind of normal for him, so a little bit of an unusual lineup to start the (fourth) quarter. And Jevon gets the drive-and-kick corner three from 'PC' and then 'PC' has the step-back and I think Brook had a basket mixed in there, Sandro with a tip-out, just to get through those two or three minutes we played Giannis so much in the third quarter, those little stretches in a game are huge. Those couple of threes were really big for us."

Carter finished the game with 13 points and rookie MarJon Beauchamp added 10 late in the game.

Grayson Allen happy to not be traded

Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday said he was awake when Kevin Durant was dealt from Brooklyn to Phoenix in the early minutes of Thursday morning, and acknowledged he was paying attention to a feverish NBA trade deadline day.

“A lot happened,” he said. “I was stressed out and I feel like; I mean, I felt like I knew I wasn’t going to get traded but sometimes you never know.”

Earlier in the day, Wesley Matthews cautioned there was still time for him to be dealt after he heard about Jordan Nwora, George Hill and Serge Ibaka being traded for Jae Crowder. Pat Connaughton joked about still being on the team, too.

But of the Bucks who weren’t moved, Grayson Allen was the one who had his name most associated with potential deals than anyone – and he was well aware of it.

“I still look for it and looked at all the rumors and stuff, but I didn’t feel like I was at a point where it was affecting me or how I was playing,” the 27-year-old told the Journal Sentinel. “I was more just curious, wanted to be in the know. So I paid attention to it. I had a couple conversations with my agent about it. But at the end of the day nothing happened. It would be my third time getting traded so, I’m not new to it at all.”

After being drafted by Utah in 2018, he was traded to Memphis in the summer of 2019. He was then dealt to the Bucks in the summer of 2021, and each experience was different for him.

“To be honest my rookie year I was involved in trade rumors around Mike Conley the whole year and it didn’t happen until after the season,” he said. “When I was in Memphis there were no trade rumors and I just got a call and it was like ‘hey, you’re traded.’ So there was no lead up to it.

"I understand it can happen whether there’s rumors or tweets about it or not. I mean, I’d rather know. Just paying attention to the league as a whole, it’s interesting and entertaining reading all the trade rumors. So, it’s hard to look at everything without seeing yourself in there if your name’s floating around.”

Allen is having a solid season for the Bucks, shooting 40.3% from behind the three-point line and averaging 10.5 points per game. He has started 49 of his 51 games heading into Friday night’s game.

“For last year and this year I felt like I was a part of what we had going and being here past this afternoon kind of solidifies that – for at least this year,” he said. “So it does feel good.”

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Five numbers

6-1 Bucks record in the second game of back-to-back sets.

“I actually had no idea that (good record) was the case,” Budenholzer said. “I’m sure chalk it up a little bit to quirkiness. I do think there’s a professionalism with our group, a toughness with our group. Those types of things are called on when you’re playing a back-to-back. I think we have a deep team, a deep roster, so I think that’s needed in back-to-backs. But mostly just, we have a good team. That’s always a good place to start.”

10 Active players with at least 16,000 career points. Clippers star Paul George joined that group during the game.

19-8 Bucks record vs. teams with a .500 record or better (on the day of the game).

29 years, 225 days Average age of the Bucks active roster (as of Feb. 10), making them the oldest team in the league. Phoenix is the second oldest at 28 years, 150 days.

7,203 Most career games played heading into Thursday by the Bucks’ active roster after acquiring Jae Crowder and trading away Serge Ibaka, George Hill and Jordan Nwora. It is the most experienced roster in the league. The Clippers are second at 6,843 games.

Play of the game is Sandro Mamukelashvili's tip-out assist

With the Bucks leading 84-79 early in the fourth quarter, Pat Connaughton missed a three-point attempt. The missed shot caromed high, and Bucks second-year forward Sandro Mamukelashvili leapt and batted the ball back out behind the three-point line to a waiting Brook Lopez. Lopez coolly drained his third three-pointer of the game give the Bucks a 87-78 lead. The extra effort and extra possessions led to a nine-point margin the Bucks needed to finish with.

"I definitely knew he was there," Mamukelashvili said. "I feel like it played out perfectly where everybody was scattered and I knew Brook was on the left side on the top of the key and I swung it right next to him. It was just like an instinct. 100% (momentum). It does. For me, when I go in, I know I should do the little stuff, try to get myself going, try to get the team going. When you do a little thing like that and he scores it, I feel like it changes the whole momentum."

Video of the game is Brook Lopez putting the Clippers in the spin cycle

Brook Lopez scored 14 points in the second quarter to help Milwaukee offset some struggles holding onto the ball, giving the Bucks a 54-51 lead going into halftime. Lopez was 7 for 10 from the field, including a 2 for 3 mark from behind the three-point line. He also showcased all of his skills, including taking advantage of a closeout on the three-point line to put the ball on the floor and show off his footwork.

Bucks injury report

• Giannis Antetokounmpo (right knee soreness), probable

• Khris Middleton (right knee injury management), out

• Bobby Portis (right MCL sprain), out

• Jae Crowder (trade), out

Who do the Bucks play next?

Milwaukee will be off until Feb. 14 when it returns home to host the Boston Celtics. It will be their first meeting since the Celtics won 139-118 on Christmas Day. But, the Celtics will be without star guard Jaylen Brown (facial fracture). They are led by MVP candidate Jayson Tatum and reigning defensive player of the year Marcus Smart.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez power Bucks over Clippers