It’s a battle of Eastern Conference foes firmly in the playoff picture in the City of Brotherly Love on Christmas Day. The Milwaukee Bucks make the trip east to face the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday afternoon. Milwaukee earned a 117-89 home win over Indiana in their last game Sunday night. Philadelphia rolled over Detroit 125-109 on the road Monday night in their last contest. The Bucks lead the all-time regular season series 109-101 and took two of three meetings a season ago. That includes a 128-122 road win in the most recent matchup on April 4, 2019.
Milwaukee Bucks Rolling Along in Eastern Conference
Milwaukee won their third straight game and their 21st in the last 22 contests as they whipped Indiana at home Sunday night. The Bucks enter this game holding the top spot in the Central Division by six games over the Pacers. In the Eastern Conference, Milwaukee held the top spot by 4.5 games over Miami. Against Indiana, the Bucks showed no ill effects of playing the second game of a back to back. After trailing by one after the opening quarter, the Bucks were up four at the half and by 10 after three quarters before outscoring the Pacers 34-16 in the fourth to turn the game into a rout. Milwaukee shot 42.3 percent from the field, including 15 of 44 from three-point range, and controlled the glass by a 61-48 margin. Wesley Matthews led the Bucks with 19 points while Giannis Antetokounmpo narrowly missed a triple-double with 18 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists.
Wes led the game with 19 points!#FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/n5xHTMBFrC
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 23, 2019
The Bucks are 1st in the league in scoring offense with 120.6 points per game on the season. Milwaukee is first in rebounding by pulling down 51.3 boards per contest while the team is 6th by dishing out 26 assists per game. The Bucks are 9th in the league in scoring defense as they allow 107.1 points per contest this season. Giannis Antetokounmpo leads Milwaukee with 31 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists per contest this season. Khris Middleton chips in 18 points plus 5.4 rebounds a night while Brook Lopez contributes 10 points a contest. George Hill (10.3 points) and Eric Bledsoe (15 points, 5.7 assists) are solid secondary options. Kyle Korver, Robin Lopez, Wesley Matthews, Ersan Ilyasova and Pat Connaughton are solid pieces in the mix as well. Milwaukee is second in the league in field goal percentage by shooting 48.2 percent as a team this season. The Bucks are third in threes per game by draining 14.3 triples per contest and stand tied for 11th in three-point shooting by hitting 36.1 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. Bledsoe is currently out with a small evulsion fracture in his fibula and is expected to miss two weeks.
Philadelphia 76ers Seek Statement Win
Philadelphia won their second straight after a three-game slide as they took care of Detroit on the road Monday night. The 76ers enter this game tied for second in the Atlantic Division with Toronto, a half-game behind Boston, and are searching for a statement victory. Philadelphia led by seven after one quarter and by eight at the half. The 76ers saw the Pistons battle back to tie the game early in the third quarter before taking the lead for good with a 7-1 run for a 72-66 lead with 7:29 to play in the third quarter. Philadelphia didn’t see Detroit get closer than three after that. The 76ers shot 54.7 percent from the field, including 12 of 30 from three-point range, to offset allowing Detroit to shoot 51.2 percent in the game. Tobias Harris poured in 35 points to lead the 76ers while Ben Simmons posted a triple-double with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 17 assists.
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 24, 2019
The 76ers are 17th in the league in scoring offense as they put up an average of 109.8 points per game on the year. Philadelphia is 10th by collecting 46.1 rebounds per contest while the team is fifth by dishing out 26.6 assists per game. The 76ers are 3rd in the league in scoring defense as they allow 104.9 points per game this season. Joel Embiid leads Philadelphia with 23 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game on the year. Tobias Harris puts up 19.7 points plus 6.7 boards a game, Ben Simmons adds 14.4 points, seven rebounds, 8.5 assists and 2.1 steals a night while Al Horford (13.1 points, 6.7 rebounds) along with Josh Richardson (14.6 points) are all off to strong starts this season. Furkan Korkmaz, Mike Scott, Matisse Thybulle, James Ennis III and Raul Neto are key reserves for Brett Brown’s group. Philadelphia is 3rd in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 47.6 percent from the field as a team on the year. The 76ers are tied for 24th in the league as they splash 10.8 triples a night while ranking tied for 7th by shooting 36.3 percent from beyond the arc on the year. Thybulle is out indefinitely with a knee sprain.
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