Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks squad has made strides throughout the preseason, and Monday night in one of the NBA’s most famous venues, they exploded amid a perfect storm for their best offensive game yet.
Seven Bucks were in double figures and all 10 players to check in had six or more points on the night as Milwaukee topped the New York Knicks 120-107 at Madison Square Garden. Afterward, Coach Kidd was thrilled with the way his team shared the ball, which allowed them to shoot nearly 60 percent from the floor in the victory.
“That’s the nice thing about this team is that we have quite a few guys that can put the ball in the basket,” Jason said. “It’s not where we’re going to have just one dominant scorer. Pretty much the whole preseason we’ve had balanced scoring and that’s what makes it fun.”
Milwaukee was lethal from deep as a team, knocking down 12 3-pointers and shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc as a result of some excellent ball movement.
The star of the night was, without a doubt, O.J. Mayo. In 31 minutes off the bench, the Bucks shooting guard torched the Knicks with six 3-pointers, and a game-high 24 points, earning high praise from his coach after the game.
“OJ’s basketball IQ is very high. He understands how to make plays and he can shoot the ball with the best of them,” J-Kidd said. “He’s a veteran. He’s a big part of this team…His work ethic in practice and in training camp has been off the charts. You can see his hard work paying off.”
Following his big night, Mayo talked about that work ethic, and how his outlook has changed playing under Coach Kidd.
“He’s definitely one of the greatest players ever to play the game,” Mayo said of Jason. “His game is all about trusting the pass and leading by example. So when you have him as your head coach, why not try what he’s preaching?”
Listening to Coach Kidd has paid off already for Mayo, though he’s had to accept a different role in the process.
Coming out of high school and college, Mayo was anointed as a future star in the league, but has struggled to meet those expectations thus far. However, a fresh start this year under a new coach could be just what he needs, even if that means taking up a sixth-man role.
“I don’t even care,” Mayo said of starting or coming off the bench. “At the end of the day, I just want to win. I trust Coach Kidd and our management to put the team in the best position to win. If that’s having me come off the bench as one of the older guys, having scoring ability, whatever it takes. I’ve always been down about winning.”
Mayo was in a reserve role on Monday night and checked in for the first time at the 6:00 mark just after a three ball from Carmelo Anthony gave New York a 15-12 lead.
The former USC Trojan missed his first attempt from deep and committed a turnover shortly after, but once he saw a triple off an assist from Jared Dudley go down with 2:43 left in the first quarter, Mayo began to feel a rhythm. By the end of one, he’d already hit double figures with two treys and four points from the foul line.
Behind Mayo, plus seven points and two dimes from Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks took a 32-30 lead going into the second quarter. Mayo stayed hot at the onset of the second, knocking down a three and a long two before dishing on a Dudley layup to keep Milwaukee ahead.
However, it was Anthony, who matched Mayo’s 24 points, who heated up late to grant the lead to the Knicks, 61-56 at the break.
“Obviously a strength of mine is shooting. When I get an opportunity to knock it down, I want to make it more than I want to miss, obviously,” Mayo said. “It’s all about taking good shots and trusting one another while we’re out there.”
While Milwaukee fell behind in the second, that trust factor showed in a wild third quarter, in which the two teams combined for 70 points.
Jabari Parker had a strong second quarter for the Bucks, dropping six of his 13 points. He added six rebounds and an assist on a solid night in which he was matched up with Anthony, a player with whom he has drawn many comparisons.
“It’s really going to prepare me for the regular season playing against some great competition and some future Hall-of-Famers,” Parker said. “So it’s really helping me learn fast.”
Defensively, the Bucks held New York to just 37 percent shooting on the night, though that wasn’t the case in the third quarter. Anthony, Tim Hardaway Jr., Amar’e Stoudemire and others were hot in the quarter, but Milwaukee answered emphatically.
Mayo and Dudley combined for five 3-pointers, and Dudley knocked down the fifth with 10 seconds left in the third to give the Bucks a 94-93 advantage. Dudley finished 3-of-5 from downtown with 14 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Dudley also knocked down another big three early in the fourth, but it was Nate Wolters who entered the mix to keep Milwaukee in the lead. The second-year point guard out of South Dakota State finished a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, adding four assists in 22 minutes.
“We moved the ball really well in the fourth quarter, basically getting any shot we wanted,” Wolters said. “I like playing here (at the Garden) a lot; it’s a fun place to play.”
The fourth quarter was certainly fun for Wolters and the Bucks. He notched 10 points in the frame, including hauling in a loose jump-ball and taking all the way down the floor for a lay-in that gave Milwaukee a 116-105 lead. That came as part of a 10-2 run, in which Wolters scored or assisted on six points. From that, the Knicks never recovered.
Antetokounmpo had one of his better performances of the preseason, dropping 14 points, seven rebounds and two assists, including converting on 8-of-9 attempts from the free throw line.
Big man John Henson also impressed once again this preseason. The North Carolina product recorded another double-double in his 27 minutes of action with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bucks managed all this without the services of several key players, including Brandon Knight, Larry Sanders, Ersan Ilyasova and Zaza Pachulia. As Jason said afterward, his squad showed excellent team play, balance and execution, which will be a winning formula no matter who is leading the scoring column.
“With the ball movement of tonight’s game just shows multiple guys touching it and being very unselfish, and guys were making shots,” Jason said.
It was a small homecoming from Jason too; he played one season in the Knicks orange and blue, and quickly became a New York favorite. The N.Y. fans welcomed J-Kidd back with a round of applause.
Shortly after, it was Mayo who stole the show. And afterward, the veteran who is coming off a struggling season, was happy to see his team execute its gameplan and record its second straight victory.
“We put together two in a row which is good,” Mayo said. “It’s something we wanted to do tonight whether it’s preseason or not. And we have to get better tomorrow.”
NEXT UP
Monday’s win pushed the the Bucks (3-3) to .500 for the preseason as they head home to wrap up their exhibition slate on Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
In their preseason finale, the Bucks will play host to the No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The last time the two teams played, Parker, the No. 2 pick, had 21 points and 11 rebounds—outshining Wiggins.
Tip-off of the rematch is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT from the BMO Harris Bradley Center and the game can be seen on Fox Sports Wisconsin.
