Milwaukee Bucks @ New Orleans Pelicans
Thursday, March 28, 2024 at 8:00 PM ET
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA | Game ID: 22301061
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NOP 26 35 24 22 107MIL 25 20 28 27 100
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Zion Williamson scores 28, closes out Pelicans' 107-100 win over the Bucks
NEW ORLEANS -- — Zion Williamson took a more assertive approach to the final minutes of a close game and it paid off for the New Orleans Pelicans .
Williamson capped a 28-point performance by hitting five of six free throws in the final three minutes and New Orleans held off the Milwaukee Bucks 107-100 on Thursday night.
“If we’re going to lose certain games, we at least want to do it the right way, knowing that we got the shots we wanted,” said Williamson, who did not attempt a shot in the final three minutes of New Orleans' 119-112 loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.
“That was the emphasis tonight and we were able to get the win,” Williamson said.
The Pelicans led for most of the game and by as many as 18 in the first half. But when Damian Lillard hit a 3-pointer with just more than five minutes left, New Orleans’ lead was down to five — much like on Tuesday night, when the Pelicans lost a five-point lead in the last three minutes to the Thunder.
This time, Williamson continued to attack the basket and his accurate foul shooting in the clutch helped the Pelicans close it out.
CJ McCollum scored 25 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans, giving him his 32nd double-double of the season, but just his first in 11 games. Trey Murphy III had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans, who won despite going just 8 of 32 on 3-pointers and shooting just 39.6% (36 of 91) overall.
“Effort — that was really it,” Murphy said of his uptick in rebounding. “My dad was in the crowd and had a mad look on his face, so I tried to make him a little more happy by rebounding the ball.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points and 14 rebounds for Milwaukee, and Williamson, who had to guard him at times, marveled at the “Greek Freak's” relentlessness in the paint.
“Man, I thought I attacked the basket,” Williamson said, smiling and shaking his head in admiration of Antetokounmpo, who scored 20 straight Bucks points to close the third quarter. “He has a high motor. I've got to give him his respect on that, and he's always on the attack.”
Lillard scored 20 points for the Bucks, as did Malik Beasley , who hit six 3s.
Milwaukee lost its second straight after falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime in its previous game.
New Orleans outscored Milwaukee 52-44 in the paint and the Pelicans went 27 of 34 from on free throws. Milwaukee attempted 19 free throws, hitting 10.
“I just thought they played more physical. They were the more aggressive team,” Lillard said. “Usually the more aggressive team gets rewarded by the whistle. The game favors that team more. I think they had that going, the crowd got into it. They were able to get their hands on the ball, they chased offensive rebounds, they got extra opportunities. They just played a better game than us.”
New Orleans led 52-34 when McCollum converted a three-point play on a 7-foot runner as he was fouled, capping a 14-2 run.
Valanciunas and Herb Jones each hit 3s during the spurt, which began with McCollum's floater off the glass as he was fouled by Lillard.
Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his points in the opening half, including an alley-oop layup that made it made it 59-45 before Larry Nance Jr .'s floater at the horn gave New Orleans a 61-45 halftime lead.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NOPCM C. McCollum
HJ H. Jones
JH J. Hawkins
JV J. Valančiūnas
LN L. Nance Jr.
MR M. Ryan
NM N. Marshall
TM T. Murphy III
VA Valanciunas
ZW Z. Williamson
MILAG A. Green
BL B. Lopez
BP B. Portis
DL D. Lillard
GA G. Antetokounmpo
JC J. Crowder
KM K. Middleton
MB M. Beasley
PB P. Beverley
PC P. Connaughton
NOP/MIL the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur