Quentin Grimes scored 22 points and Paul George added 20 to lead the visiting Philadelphia 76ers to a 116-101 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.
It was an atypical scoring night for Philadelphia, with Tyrese Maxey managing just 12 points and the bench unit contributing 61. Maxey’s previous season low in scoring was 20.
Bobby Portis led Milwaukee with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Kevin Porter Jr. added 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and Myles Turner put up 19.
Milwaukee experienced a loss in the second half as sharpshooter AJ Green was not able to return to the court after the break. He sustained a left shoulder contusion in the second quarter, and he finished scoreless on four shots in 15 minutes.
Philadelphia came out firing, making 60% of its shots in the first quarter to take a 33-20 lead.
The 76ers continued to rain it in from deep, nailing 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the second quarter, including three treys from Jabari Walker, to go into halftime up 69-49.
Walker led all scorers with 16 points at the break, while Portis paced Milwaukee with 13.
After trailing by as much as 26, Milwaukee was able to cut the deficit to 16 going into the fourth. Porter, Turner and Kyle Kuzma scored 26 of the Bucks 28 points in the third. Milwaukee also attempted 15 free throws in the third after it had just five attempts prior.
The Bucks carried over their momentum into the fourth and cut the lead down to single digits with 4:17 to go after Philadelphia missed its first six 3-point attempts of the quarter.
VJ Edgecombe sank the clinching shot minutes later, a 3-pointer that put Philadelphia up 108-94 with 2:34 to play.
Philadelphia improved to 2-0 against the Bucks this season with both matchups having been played in Milwaukee. Prior to the 76ers’ overtime win on Nov. 20, the Bucks had won eight consecutive games in the series.
–Field Level Media
