NBA on Feb. 6: Bucks, Warriors claim crazy points in one quarter

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Seven games happened on Wednesday for the 2018-19 NBA regular season. The Milwaukee Bucks claimed a big win against the Washington Wizards 148-129 while scoring 50 points in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors took a similar victory against the San Antonio Spurs 141-102 and dropped 49 points in the third quarter.

Bucks become the first 40-win team this season

Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukke Bucks handles the ball in the game they win against the Washington Wizards 148-129 on February 6. /VCG Photo

Not many had expected Washington to cause any trouble for Milwaukee on Wednesday and they were right. Though the Wizards played quite well in the game by making 17 three-pointers with a 3-pt rate of 45.95 percent (17/37). Bradley Beal dropped 30 points while Thomas Bryant had a big double-double of 26 points and 14 rebounds. 32-year-old veteran Jeff Green also scored 22 points.

However, Washington's resistance was not enough to protect the team from being smashed by the opponent. The Bucks sank 19 of 30 three-pointers, scored 70 points in the paint and forced the Wizards to commit 23 turnovers before turning them into 36 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo made 17 of his 21 shots, including sinking all three from the 3-pt line to put down 43 points plus six rebounds, four assists and three steals, showing his opponent what "dominance" meant.

Wednesday's win made Milwaukee the first 40-win team of the season. Taking 40 victories in their first 53 games was also the new record in franchise history. By the way, the last two times the Bucks reached 40 wins at a similar speed, they made it to the NBA Finals in the end.

GSW to Spurs: This is not 2014 any more

Kevin Durant #35 and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors in the game they win against the San Antonio Spurs 141-102 on February 6. /VCG Photo

Since Antonio will confront the Portland Trail Blazers in a back-to-back road game on Thursday, head coach Gregg Popovich did not send several of the team's star players including DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge to play against Golden State. Despite that, it's always a mistake to underestimate Popovich and the Spurs. The Warriors learnt this lesson in the 2013-14 season when they kept losing to the Spurs no matter Popovich sent all three of the "GDP" (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili), one of the combination or none of them.

The first quarter seemed to confirm the idea as the two teams were equally matched (33-31). However, as San Antonio grew cold with their hands in the second quarter, GSW expanded the lead to 14 points (66-52) and turned the next quarter into a crazy scoring gala by delivering 16 assists to help their players make 17 of 22 shots. Though Popovich used all timeouts this quarter, he could not stop Golden State from turning the game into a foregone conclusion with a 49-31 in Q3.

Luka Doncic delivers third triple-double

Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks handles the ball in the game they win against the Charlotte Hornets 99-93 on February 6. /VCG Photo

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the visiting Charlotte Hornets 99-93 at the American Airlines Center (AAC) thanks to Luka Doncic's third triple-double (19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists) this season. Though Kemba Walker put down 30 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte, his team lost to Dallas that had six players scoring double-digit points.

Having claimed three triple-doubles in his rookie season, Doncic is approaching Jason Kidd who took such performance four times in the 1994-95 season. With 29 games to go, it's only natural to assume that the 19-year-old young man will surpass Kidd but he should aim something bigger, namely Ben Simmons who dropped 12 triple-doubles in his rookie season (2017-18). By the way, both Kidd and Simmons won Rookie of the Year.

A little incident to the game was that while the game was still going on, it was made known that the Mavericks sent Harrison Barnes, who was still playing on the court, to the Sacramento Kings via trade. According Paul Pierce, though Barnes learnt that he might be traded before the game, he chose to play anyway.

Nets present another surprise

D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Brooklyn Nets penetrates in the game they win against the Denver Nuggets 135-130 on February 6. /VCG Photo

The Brooklyn Nets claimed an upset victory against the Denver Nuggets 135-130 at the Barclays Center. Led by D'Angelo Russell and his 27 points, six rebounds and 11 assists, six players scored double digits to help Brooklyn defeat Denver, the league's sixth best defensive teams that only lost 106.5 points per game, with a filed goal rate of 55.88 percent.

Though Nikola Jokic took another triple-double of 25 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists while Mason Plumlee scored 24 points via a remarkable FG rate of 83.3 percent (10/12), trailing by 21 points (87-108) was simply too much to catch up in one quarter. Though the Nuggets launched a 43-27 in Q4, they lost the game and saw their gap behind the Warriors expanded to 1.5 wins in the Western Conference.

Other games on Wednesday included: (away teams come first)

New Orleans Pelicans 125-120 Chicago Bulls

Phoenix Suns 88-116 Utah Jazz

Houston Rockets 127-101 Sacramento Kings