On March 29, Beijing time, the NBA regular season ushered in a key matchup, and the Pelicans sat at home to face the Bucks. Previously, the Bucks had a record of 46 wins and 26 losses, ranking second in the East, and their position was relatively solid, with the Knicks and Magic fighting for third and the Pacers and 76ers fighting for sixth. However, towards the end of the season, the Bucks have been inconsistent, they can beat the Thunder, a 25-point home game, and they can also lose to the Lakers without James in double overtime with a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter. Because they have natural defensive shortcomings, Lillard and Beasley can't support the backcourt defensive framework, so the team lacks a floor of stability. The Pelicans, on the other hand, had a 44-28 record and were fifth in the West.
The loss to the Thunder in the last game caused them to be opened up by the Clippers by one win again. With Ingram sidelined for at least two weeks with a contusion on his left knee, the Pelicans are also on the devil's schedule, with an average win rate of 53.5 percent, which will be a big test for Zion and McCollum. What's more, the Mavericks behind him have won a wave of 5 consecutive wins, and they have chased only 1 win gap (the Suns are only 1.5 wins behind the Pelicans), and whether the Pelicans can surpass the Clippers is uncertain, but if they are not careful, they may fall to sixth or even seventh. According to the calculations of the American media "BR", the probability of the Mavericks winning the fifth place in the West has increased to 22.2%, while the probability of the Pelicans winning the fifth place in the West is 37.9%. Bucks starters: Lillard + Beasley + Middleton + Antetokounmpo + Lopez.
Pelicans starters: McCollum + Herbert Jones + Murphy + Zion + Valanciunas. At the beginning of the game, Zion was wreaking havoc on the inside of the Bucks: breaking through the folding basket + accelerating past the two to make an easy layup, Brother Alphabet also used his body to open the way to the race, and then McCollum and Beasley rained three-pointers! After the timeout, Zion continued to make kills, and McCollum easily overtook him. In the second half of the game, Beasley and Portis rained three points, Zion's dream pull rod + Murphy pulled onions on dry land, and Nance still wanted to dunk Brother Alphabet, but unfortunately he didn't have enough strength after the confrontation. At the end of the first quarter, the Pelicans led the Bucks 26-25.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Portis continued to attack, but the Pelicans gradually made a force: Varan pulled out a jump shot + made a kill + scored a pick-and-roll, Herbert Jones threw himself and grabbed himself, stopping the Bucks in waves. After Connaughton stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer, Wallan was still scoring, McCollum and Jones blossomed inside and out, and the Pelicans led to 14 points! Fortunately, at the end of the quarter, Lillard + Da Luo + Beasley made three three-pointers to stop the bleeding, and then Zion continued to attack the basket and united with McCollum to maintain the lead. The Pelicans led the Bucks 61-45 at halftime. Antetokounmpo and Beasley both had 12 points, and Lillard had eight points and five assists. On the Pelicans' side, McCollum had 18 points, Zion had 10 points and Wallan had 13 points.
Coming back in the second half, Middleton finally broke up in three, McCollum continued to name Beasley, Lillard and Beasley scored five points in a row, and the two teams were still pulling fiercely. But from the middle stage, Brother Alphabet made a might: facing Zion is a tough confrontation layup 2+1, Zion hooked his hand to respond, Brother Alphabet continued to open the way to make fouls, Middleton fed the cake Brother Alphabet dunk, Brother Alphabet counterattacked a dragon, and then raised high to attack successfully, Zion responded singlely, Brother Alphabet is another dragon to stop the Pelicans! But Murphy hit two three-pointers to widen the gap. At the end of the quarter, Antetokounmpo continued to play hard 1 to 3, but Nance hit another three-pointer! At the end of the third quarter, the Pelicans led the Bucks 85-73.
In the fourth quarter, Wallan continued to bully Da Lopez, Crowder stopped the bleeding with three points, and Da Luo made a slow three-step layup to narrow the difference. In the mid-game, Varland and Zion stopped the Bucks, Lillard and Middleton made back-to-back driving layups, and Beasley drifted three-pointers to chase down to just eight points. In the decisive moment, Lillard stopped the Pelicans with a three-pointer, Zion made consecutive fouls on Antetokounmpo and Middleton, and Lillard continued his life with a three-pointer, but there was not much time left after that. In the end, the Pelicans defeated the Bucks 107-100, and after this game, the Pelicans were 0.5 wins away from the Clippers.
Bucks stats, Antetokounmpo 35 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists, Lillard 20 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, Beasley 20 points, Da Lopez 7 points and 5 rebounds, Middleton 7 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Pelicans stats, Zion 28 points and 5 rebounds, McCollum 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, Valanciunas 17 points and 10 rebounds, Herbert Jones 11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, Murphy 15 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists.