Jason Kidd always preaches for his team to give itself a chance to win at the end of games, and on Tuesday night, his Milwaukee Bucks did just that against a tough Phoenix Suns squad.
However, after taking a lead into the fourth quarter, the Bucks didn’t have enough for the high-flying Suns in the final frame and it was Phoenix that emerged victorious in a 102-96 thriller. After watching his team put on a show but fall short, Jason noted his pride that the young Bucks endured a back and forth battle with one of the league’s hottest teams and had a chance to win, but lamented their inability to execute on either end to close the game.
“We had good looks, we just didn’t make one,” Coach Kidd said. “Defensively, they got wide-open threes. For a three-point shooting team, you can’t give them wide-open threes late in the game, and we did that and it came back to haunt us. But again, we were in the game. We had an opportunity to beat one of the hottest teams in the league, we just couldn’t get the ball to bounce our way.”
Through most of the night, the ball was bouncing the way of J-Kidd’s star point guard, Brandon Knight. The Kentucky product awed the crowd at the BMO Harris Bradley Center with two tomahawk jams, and finished with a game-high 26 points, four assists, three steals, two boards and a block. Despite B-Knight’s explosion, Milwaukee dropped its fourth straight home contest.
It was a thriller, however.
Both teams shot in high volume, launching more than 80 attempts each. The contest featured 12 lead changes and three ties, and neither squad led by more than 10.
Knight had five points in the first quarter, while Giannis Antetokounmpo added six points and six rebounds for the Bucks, who jumped out to a 21-15 advantage.
The Milwaukee point man added another seven points in the second, but the Suns guard squadron battled back. Isaiah Thomas tallied 10 points off the bench, while Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe combined for nine points and six assists, helping Phoenix cut the deficit to one, 44-43, at halftime.
“They have some talented guards,” Kidd said of the Suns, one of his former teams. “When they attack the paint everybody kind of comes in and kind of gets sucked in, then they find the guys who can knock down threes.”
In front of a crowd of 12,311 at home, the Bucks showed flair in the third quarter when Giannis Antetokounmpo and Knight had an array of monster dunks that infused a surge of energy throughout the arena.
Antetokounmpo notched his second straight double-double by scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in 34 minutes of work. Two of his 16 points came on an emphatic dunk over three Suns players as he sprung from the dead corner with just one dribble and extended his arm to the hoop for a one-handed flush.
Shortly thereafter, Knight had two dunks of similar power, but both were off of a two-footed approach as he punched the ball through the rim with one hand through traffic. The Bucks needed every dunk and every point, as Knight’s 12 and Khris Middleton’s six in the third helped them build a seven-point lead with just over a minute to go in the third.
However back-to-back treys from Thomas and P.J. Tucker in the final 1:14 of the frame made it once again just a one-point game, 72-71, as the fourth quarter got underway.
Middleton finished with 13 points as the third Bucks starter in double figures, and per usual, Jason’s squad came through with some great support off the bench. John Henson led the way with 13 points, six boards and three dimes, while Jared Dudley tallied 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.
Milwaukee outscored Phoenix in the paint 52-40, and also took advantage of opportunities in the open court by outscoring the high-flying Suns 23-15 in fast break points. Thanks to those efforts, the game went back and forth to the very end.
Markieff Morris finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix, including eight points in the final frame. Thomas finished with 19 points, while Dragic added 16 and Bledsoe chipped in 10.
Morris pulled down two tough offensive boards and finally dropped a put-back that gave Phoenix a two-point lead with 9:35 left to play. From then on, the Suns never trailed.
An O.J. Mayo jumper brought the game within one, 81-80, with 7:18 remaining, and a Middleton three brought them back within two, 94-92 with just less than two minutes to go.
However, it was the three-ball that ultimately sunk Jason’s squad. Shortly after Middleton’s trey, Morris answered right back, burying a long trifecta to put the Suns up seven with 43 seconds to go.
As Jason admitted after the game, allowing wide-open shots late was just too much to overcome.
“I thought the guys played with a lot of energy and made some defensive plays that turned into some great offensive plays,” Jason said. “We got the lead and got back into the fight, but we just couldn’t close the door. You can’t give them wide open 3s late in the game.”
LARRY SANDERS UPDATE
A bright spot for the Bucks was the return of center Larry Sanders, even if he was in street clothes and sitting on the bench. He missed his seventh consecutive game due, at first, to the flu, but since then for personal reasons.
“It feels great to be around the guys again,” Sanders said, adding that rumors he might quit basketball weren’t true. “But, what is true, is that I’m in the process of working things out now to do as best for my psyche and my physical health going forward. There’s a lot of evaluating going on.”
The VCU product is averaging 7.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest, while erasing an average of 1.4 shots through 27 games this season.
“It was good to see Larry back,” Jason said. “Now we’re just going through the process of getting him back in the swing of things.”
NEXT UP
Milwaukee will travel to Philadelphia to face the five-win 76ers on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers are coming off a valiant win on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers, after losing five straight prior.
“We had some good looks, they just didn’t go in,” Jason said. “Tomorrow night, we have another one where we’re going to get those same looks, so hopefully we can knock them down.”
The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. EST.
