MILWAUKEE _ Defense has not been the strong suit of the Milwaukee Bucks this season. It definitely wasn't in the second quarter on Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies when the Bucks surrendered 36 points and made Memphis look unstoppable.
But when push came to shove, the Bucks locked down on defense to earn their third consecutive win, 110-103, at the Bradley Center in front of an engaged crowd of 13,244.
Fresh off that second quarter in which Memphis made 10 of its first 11 shots and wasn't stopped on back-to-back possessions until there were 3 minutes, 26 seconds left. The Grizzlies' bench accounted for most of the damage, with Mario Chalmers, Tyreke Evans and Brandan Wright accounting for 24 of the 36 second-quarter points.
Milwaukee turned up the intensity on the defensive end, something Middleton said the team emphasized at halftime.
The easy looks the Grizzlies had been accustomed to weren't there. Instead there were defenders at every turn, including DeAndre Liggins, who came off the bench to take multiple charges and pick off steals.
Memphis went just 5 of 18 from the field in that third quarter, going without a field goal for nearly 4 { minutes toward the end of the period. Milwaukee converted its defense into offense, turning a five-point halftime deficit into a seven-point lead by the end of the third.
Then the dam broke again.
Evans went off in the first 4 { minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of his team-high 27 points to put Memphis up by five and flip the game yet again. That's when Bucks coach Jason Kidd called timeout and turned to his starting unit and they didn't let him down.
Milwaukee strung stops together and went on an 11-2 run out of the timeout, taking the lead for good. Memphis went just 3 of 14 over the final 7:39 of the game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 27 points and Khris Middleton and John Henson each added 17. Eric Bledsoe added 15 and Malcolm Brogdon had 10 off the bench.
