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The Milwaukee Bucks secured a 117:111 win against the Washington Wizards in a closely contested game that was marked by a moment of brilliance and controversy from Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek forward had a stunning performance, recording 23 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds, earning his fourth triple-double of the season and the 33rd of his career.
Antetokounmpo's Move in the Last Second
However, Antetokounmpo's performance will forever be remembered for a controversial play in the last second of the game. As is customary in the NBA, when the outcome of the game has been decided, the winning team moves into the opponent's half and waits for time to expire.
Antetokounmpo, however, decided to do something truly incredible and even controversial. "I was thinking about scoring the ball, but I feel like in those situations it’s best to kind of keep the ball," Antetokounmpo said via ESPN.
"But yeah, I just try to play the game smart and kind of stole one”. The Greek went undisturbed under Washington's basket, then intentionally hit the ball off the backboard and caught it before time expired.
Milwaukee's Shooting Display
The Milwaukee Bucks shot 22 of their 49 attempts beyond the arc, the most allowed by the Wizards this season, and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Boston for first place in the Eastern Conference. "We feel like we’ve got a lot of depth," said Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer. "We’ve got a lot of guys that are good shooters that can get hot from the 3-point line.
So that’s part of a good team and being able to play on back-to-backs and make it through the season and be prepared for the playoffs”.
Washington's Resilience
Bradley Beal scored 33 points for the Wizards, who remain 10th in the East and in line for the final play-in tournament spot.
Kristaps Porzingis added 24 points and 14 rebounds for Washington, which lost for the second time at home in two nights. "I’m happy with how hard we played and the product we’re giving our fans," Porzingis said after the game.
"Even though we had these two tough losses, I think it’s something positive we can take from these games."
Other Results
In other games, the Chicago Bulls lost to the Indiana Pacers 122:125, the Brooklyn Nets beat the Charlotte Hornets 102:86, the Houston Rockets defeated the San Antonio Spurs 142:110, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Utah Jazz 129:119, the Boston Celtics won against the New York Knicks 129:131, the LA Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 135:129.