WASHINGTON – The Milwaukee Bucks have had worse losses in their franchise’s history, but it’s hard to imagine one as futile and utterly avoidable as their 129-126 defeat to the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena.
The Bucks aren’t a good team. They were 9-12 coming into Monday’s game, having just recently ended a seven-game losing streak. And they played without their starting point guard, Kevin Porter, Jr., down the stretch; Porter looked to have suffered an injury to his back, which ended his night after he’d rained 30 points on the Wizards in 31 minutes. But they have Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the tanking Wizards, who were playing without their only defensive presence, second-year center Alex Sarr, do not. The Wizards entered Monday 2-16, on merit. And yet, Milwaukee fell into the trap of trading buckets with an inferior team, through the first half.
OH YEAH CJ!!!! https://t.co/djvtl9pA9o pic.twitter.com/nzM5FsfnSm
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) December 2, 2025
And even after taking a 16-point lead in the third quarter, Milwaukee’s defensive effort was non-existent. And, no matter how bad a record an NBA team has, it still has NBA players on it who are capable of making tough shots.
So, it was that Washington’s two veterans, C.J. McCollum and Khris Middleton, took over, with each making a monster 3-pointer in the final minute. Middleton (eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter) drained one with 52.9 seconds left to give the Wizards a 124-122 lead. And after Antetokounmpo split two free throws with 39.3 seconds left, McCollum (28 points) drained a stepback 3 with 15 seconds to go, putting Washington up by four.
Wizards forward Bilal Coulibaly then closed the game out with a strip of the Greek Freak, and a game-sealing dunk with 5.4 seconds left.
NASTY WORK 😤 https://t.co/iXCqlSTRFz pic.twitter.com/mF8ZOVWyCu
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) December 2, 2025