Sixers Bench Storms Milwaukee as Bucks Struggle Without Giannis
So here’s what went down in Milwaukee, and it was a night that probably felt way longer for Bucks fans than it actually was. The 76ers rolled into Fiserv Forum on the second night of a back-to-back, missing Joel Embiid, and still managed to beat the Bucks 116-101 — and honestly, it never really looked like Philadelphia lost control of the game once they grabbed the lead early.
What really stood out was how the Sixers’ bench completely took over. Their second unit poured in 61 points , and that group basically shifted the game on its own. Quentin Grimes led the charge with 22 points , while Jabari Walker added 18 and knocked down all four of his early three-point attempts. Despite Tyrese Maxey being held to a season-low 12 points, Philadelphia didn’t miss a beat because the bench simply kept coming in waves.
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Milwaukee, meanwhile, had to navigate this one without Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is expected to be out roughly four weeks with a right calf strain. And his absence was felt right away. Even though the Bucks started off hitting shots and even led 11-9 in the opening minutes, everything flipped once the Sixers called a timeout. Philadelphia closed the first quarter on a 24-9 run , fueled almost entirely by Milwaukee turnovers. Seven giveaways in that stretch became 11 easy Sixers points, and from there the gap just kept widening.
By the middle of the second quarter, the Bucks had fallen behind by as many as 26 points , largely because they kept trying to force passes into tight spaces or dribble through traffic. At one point, Jabari Walker even ripped the ball straight out of Bobby Portis’ hands underneath the hoop and turned it into a three-point play. Those moments added up — Milwaukee finished with 18 turnovers , and the 76ers turned those mistakes into 21 points .
To their credit, the Bucks did fight back in the second half. Bobby Portis (22 points), Kevin Porter Jr. (20), and Myles Turner (19) kept them within striking distance, and a corner three from Portis cut the lead to 103-94 with just over four minutes left. But every time Milwaukee looked ready to break through, the Sixers answered. Paul George, who finished with 20, came up with two massive plays on both ends to snuff out the late push and put the game out of reach.
Adding to Milwaukee’s troubles, sharpshooter AJ Green left in the second quarter with a shoulder contusion, ending his streak of five straight games with at least four made threes.
Right now, the Bucks are stuck searching for any kind of rhythm without Giannis, and they haven’t been lucky with consistent lineups. Doc Rivers has talked about finding “silver linings,” but with the team now sitting four games behind both Orlando and Philadelphia in the loss column, they’ll need to find answers fast — especially with two more games remaining in this season series that could decide tiebreakers down the line.
In the end, it was a night defined by mistakes for Milwaukee and opportunity for Philadelphia — and the Sixers’ bench made sure those opportunities didn’t go to waste.
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