Julian Strawther nets 20 points to help shorthanded Nuggets get by Bucks
Julian Strawther scored 20 points to lead the Denver Nuggets, down many key players, to a 102-100 win on the road over the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Denver survives a valiant fourth-quarter rally from Milwaukee that brought them from down 23 to down just one. They also swept their road back-to-back.
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 17 points and Bruce Brown had 15. Zeke Nnaji added 11 with 12 rebounds.
The Nuggets were down Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Cameron Johnson, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Tamar Bates. They also lost Aaron Gordon (hamstring strain) after the first half.
At home, Milwaukee has lost two straight and six of its last eight. Giannis Antetokounmpo led with 22 points on just eight shot attempts against Denver, as well as 13 rebounds and seven assists. Antetokounmpo had to exit in the final minute of the fourth quarter after coming up limping in transition.
It was a tough offensive start for both teams. The Bucks went scoreless for nearly five minutes after they had a five-point edge in the second quarter as Denver took a 48-42 edge going into the halftime break.
In the third, Antetokounmpo checked out with six minutes to go and the Bucks then shot 3-for-10 from the field afterwards. Denver outscored Milwaukee 30-21 in the quarter and held a 78-63 lead going into the fourth.
Milwaukee then found something late in the fourth as it went on a 23-9 run to bring the deficit down to just eight. Denver's offensive struggles in the quarter allowed Milwaukee to hang around and eventually strike.
Portis knocked down a 3-pointer to bring the deficit to five with 1:30 to go. Despite losing Antetokounmpo shortly after, Rollins hit a 3-pointer to bring the deficit down to two.
After another Rollins 3-pointer, it was just a one-point deficit but Milwaukee did not have a timeout, so Kyle Kuzma was forced to heave a half-court shot after a missed free throw that came up just short.
Denver completes the season sweep of Milwaukee for the first time since the 2019-20 season.