Wizards 118, Bucks 113
MILWAUKEE -- Bradley Beal scored 36 points and Ramon Sessions had 23 as the Washington Wizards rallied in the fourth quarter for a 118-113 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Beal and Sessions led the late charge, scoring 14 and 12 points, respectively, in the final 12 minutes. They were especially lethal from long range, combining to connect on 6 of 7 from beyond the arc, and sank 3s on three consecutive possessions to give Washington a 111-104 lead with two minutes to play.
The Wizards made seven 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, including one from guard John Wall with 1:28 left that put Washington up by five and capped a 19-point night.
Milwaukee led most of the game and got 26 first-half points from forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was making his 2015-16 debut after sitting out the opener on Wednesday because of a one-game suspension.
Antetokounmpo struggled in the second half, though, batting a sore leg and foul trouble and managed just one point before he fouled out in the final minute.
After struggling to make baskets Wednesday in their season opener, the Bucks came out firing and hit 13 of 21 in the first quarter (62 percent) and shot 51 percent for the game while making 7 of 24 from long distance.
Bucks center Greg Monroe had 22 points and five rebounds, shooting guard Khris Middleton added 18 points and point guard Jerryd Bayless had 14 points and four assists off the bench.
Milwaukee fell to 0-2 and the Wizards improved to 2-0.
NOTES: Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to action Friday after missing the season opener to serve a one-game suspension for shoving Bulls F Mike Dunleavy during the playoffs last season. ... Milwaukee was still without SG O.J. Mayo, who has been battling a hamstring injury, and PG Tyler Ennis, who suffered a shoulder injury during the preseason. ... Washington was without G Alan Anderson (ankle) and G/F Martell Webster (hip). ... Wizards G Jared Dudley spent last season with the Bucks, averaging 7.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 72 games. He was traded to Washington over the winter in exchange for a second-round draft pick. ... Bucks head coach Jason Kidd gave Johnny O'Bryant the start at power forward Friday over Chris Copeland, who got the start Wednesday in the season opener. ... Washington won the season-series between the two teams last year, taking two of the three meetings with Milwaukee.