The Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers faced off in a close game on Sunday. LA was playing without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, which put them at a distinct disadvantage. However, James Harden and his teammates refused to give up, forcing the Bucks to work incredibly hard to achieve a 124-117 victory at the Crypto.com Arena.
As usual, Damian Lillard and his clutch heroics helped Milwaukee close out a spirited contest from LA down the stretch.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Damian Lillard Demanded Ball Down the Stretch
Giannis Antetokounmpo had a fantastic game as well, ending with 34 points, seven rebounds, ten assists, a steal, and a block. However, even the Bucks’ talisman understood that he needed to let Lillard do his thing down the stretch.
With fewer than 90 seconds left in the game, Dame sealed the victory over the Clippers with a vintage Dame Time triple. After passing the ball to Giannis, the eight-time All-Star point guard quickly demanded it back. Antetokounmpo happily obliged.
“Dame wanted the ball,” Antetokounmpo said about the play, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “He shouted, ‘Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball!’ When a guy like that yells for the ball, you should give it to him.
“I saw him coming full speed and gave him the ball and β¦all-time great.” He did what he did, man. Tough off-balance shot, but it went in and provided us momentum. And I believe that play helped us win the game. “It won us the game.”
ππ§'π¦ πππ π π§ππ π!#Bucks #FearTheDeer #NBA pic.twitter.com/vIRI84CdPC
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Lillard’s three-pointer gave the Bucks their largest lead of the game. The 10-point lead was enough to take them through, and the Clippers were unable to recover from that point forward.
As Antetokounmpo stated, when Dame demands for the ball like that, there is no choice but to give it to him. That is going to be the correct decision nine times out of ten.
