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Bango with NBA Math Hoops
Bango with NBA Math Hoops in September
Last year, despite winning the Central Division title, the Bucks swooned from Nov. 9-30 with a 5-4 record. This season is completely different. Since the middle of the month, they’ve torn through the schedule by winning 9 of their last 11 games.
That stretch includes the Nov. 30 loss to the Chicago Bulls 120-113 in overtime. Tied 106-106, Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic (29 points) and Andre Drummond (14 rebounds) led the way in the extra period. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 26 points and 14 rebounds, with 8 defensive grabs.
Regardless, Milwaukee’s record (13-6) puts them in the driver’s seat again in the Central, and third place in the Eastern Conference. They’ve made it to the quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament, and the Bucks play that contest against the New York Knicks, Dec. 5, at the Fiserv Forum.
The Bucks went undefeated in four games to win the group play stage, specifically the East Group B, with a +46 point differential to advance. The drawback to this nonsense NBA ploy is eventually on making a negative impact a team’s health and the standings, later on.
The Bucks, though still showing a Milwaukee sports team trait like the Brewers with erratically brilliant play, pulled its best comeback so far in 2023: the Nov. 26 home game against the Portland Trailblazers. Up by 5 points in the first quarter, the defense collapsed leaving them down 44-30, early in the second quarter.
Portland’s lead was 81-55 in the third quarter, before the Bucks came back later, from 26 points down, against Damian Lillard’s old team. G. Antetokounmpo tipped in the tiebreaker with 18.5 seconds left in the game, going with his 33 points and 16 rebounds to pull out a 108-102 win.
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Lillard chipped in 31 points and made four free throws after being fouled to stop the clock, all in the last 10.5 seconds to cap the victory. Lillard played 11 seasons with Portland before requesting a trade, and Milwaukee’s good fortune.
Bucks Give Back
Fiserv forum was also the scene of some other heroics over the Thanksgiving holiday, as the Bucks partnered with several businesses to give back to the community.
Levy, a local catering and food supplier, and the Bucks got together to distribute more than 500 pounds of turkey to personnel from 29 different city firehouses. The dinners, donated by Gordon Food Service and prepared by the forum’s executive chef Keith Luce and staff, were passed around Nov. 22, at the forum’s loading dock.
The Bucks and Kohl’s hosted a downtown shopping trip for a dozen youngsters from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee Nov. 28, at the Wisconsin Ave. Kohl’s store. It all started with a Nov. 21 tip-off event, where the Bucks and Gruber Law Offices helped to package and hand out 150 turkeys at the Walnut St. address of the Capuchin Community Services House of Peace.
Bucks’ players AJ Green and Andre Jackson Jr. looked to boost the math skills of fourth through eighth grade students with a live version of NBA Math Hoops, a basketball-based board game. It follows a 10-16-week curriculum challenging their fundamental math skills.
The Dec. 1 live version was held at Froedtert and Medical College of Sports Science Center on N. Sixth St. and included students from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee.
The Bucks will have an extended home stand at the Fiserv with a rematch against the Bulls (Dec. 11), Indiana Pacers (Dec. 13), Detroit Pistons (Dec. 16), Houston Rockets (Dec. 17), San Antonio Spurs (Dec. 19), and Orlando Magic (Dec. 23).
