Over his incredible playing career, Jason Kidd prided himself on never allowing the circumstances of the game to get him to high or too low. It made him a great leader on the court and has translated seamlessly to his post-playing career as a coach.

Since taking over the reins of the Milwaukee Bucks last summer, Coach Kidd has been imparting those same traits he played with on a group of young Bucks that has excelled in a way few outside of their locker room expected. So when the Bucks saw saw a Bojan Bogdanovic three splash through the net from the corner midway through the second quarter on Monday night, giving the Brooklyn Nets a 17-point lead in Milwaukee, they didn’t blink and they didn’t panic. They just kept playing.

Milwaukee slow chipped away at the Brooklyn lead until it was gone, then pulled ahead in the third quarter and the Bucks never looked back in a 103-97 victory to extend their home winning streak to five. Afterward, Jason, who coached the Nets last season and improved to 2-0 against his former squad, noted that his Bucks team’s mettle has been tested repeatedly this season and he’s proud of the way they’ve adapted to different situations.

“They hit a lot of shots early,” Jason said. “For a young team, we didn’t fold in and think about the next game or the vacation break. We fought, we found ourselves in the game and we controlled it from the second half on.”

Milwaukee’s comeback was a true group effort. No Bucks player tallied 20 points, but seven finished with at least eight points. The committee contributions led Jason to deploy an unorthodox lineup to finish out the game. Jared Dudley, Khris Middleton, O.J. Mayo, Jerryd Bayless and Zaza Pachulia were the five on the floor to close out Brooklyn, while Brandon Knight and Giannis Antetokounmpo watched from the bench.

“I liked the group that was out there,” Coach Kidd said. “We all trust, from teammates to coaches, the group that was out there could finish the game. Giannis had a heck of a game; his stat line was pretty impressive. But also we have to understand we have one more game (before the break) and we have to find a way to get some rest as we go forward. He put us in a position to win. For us not to have to come back to him shows the trust in his teammates out on the floor.”

Brooklyn Nets v Milwaukee Bucks

Antetokounmpo stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, three steals and a block in 32 minutes. None of those 32 came in the final frame, but Antetokounmpo completely embraced J-Kidd’s decision to stick with his teammates to finish out the win.

“The team was playing really well, so they didn’t need me in the fourth quarter,” Antetokounmpo said. “It is all about winning. That group was playing great basketball. I’m satisfied.”

Down the stretch it was the clutch shooting of Mayo, who turned in nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, that buoyed Jason’s squad to lock up the victory. Mayo’s final frame included a stretch of seven straight points that gave Milwaukee a nine-point lead.

Brooklyn Nets v Milwaukee Bucks

But Mayo’s clutch shooting in the fourth helped the Bucks finish off the Nets, they likely wouldn’t have been in position to do so had it not been for Jared Dudley. Dudley tallied a team-high 19 points — including a 5-of-5 mark from three-point range — and kept the Bucks afloat throughout.

“He kind of kept us from getting the doors blown off,” J-Kidd said of Dudley. “He kept us in there, we stayed around.”

After the trey by Bogdanovic pushed Brooklyn’s lead to 17 with 7:45 left in the first half, Coach Kidd immediately called for a timeout that allowed his crew to regroup.

Shortly thereafter the Bucks embarked on a campaign to get back in the game and establish a path to victory. It began with a pair of free throws from Antetokounmpo, then Dudley knocked down a three ball from 24-feet to quickly trim the deficit to 12.

Dudley went 3-of-3 from long range in the second, where he also pulled down four rebounds. He added two assists and three steals on the night, and afterward the veteran swingman pointed out how he and the rest of the Bucks have been able to blossom while sharing the load night by night.

Brooklyn Nets v Milwaukee Bucks

“I got hot that second quarter and the second half we picked it up,” Dudley said. “There’s a lot of trust in J-Kidd and how he coaches and the way he goes about his business. It’s by committee each night. As a player, you can only respect that.”

Monday night’s comeback was the best proof yet that Milwaukee’s team-first approach to offense is working. Brandon Knight, who leads the team in scoring at 17.7 points per game, had just eight points in the win against Brooklyn. But even when Knight isn’t performing, Coach Kidd has full confidence in every player on the roster.

“You know if you’re playing well you’re going to be staying in there. Jorge (Gutierrez) was in the fourth quarter when we played Houston,” Dudley added. “That’s why I think guys will want to come here in the next couple years and play for coach Kidd. You see what’s going on here.”

Thanks to Dudley, Milwaukee survived a stretch of 13 consecutive missed shots — their final shot in the first quarter and first 12 in the second — to trail only 62-57 at halftime.

Then, it was all Bucks in the second half. Milwaukee scored 16 points off 10 Brooklyn turnovers in the second half. Khris Middleton, who finished right behind Dudley with 18 points, came alive, going 8-of-9 from the field for 16 of those points in the second half after knocking down just 1-of-6 in the first half.

Brooklyn Nets v Milwaukee Bucks

With 10 points and six rebounds, John Henson joined the double-figure club, while Bayless just missed that mark, turning in nine points, six assists and six rebounds.

In addition to each player getting on the scoreboard, all 10 Bucks to take the floor also pulled down a rebound, helping the team to a 44-38 advantage on the glass. Milwaukee tallied 15 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds and outscored the Nets 21-7 on fast breaks. Afterward, Jason was thrilled with the way his team kept its composure after falling behind by nearly 20 points early.

“Guys kept playing. I thought our energy and effort picked up to close the half,” Coach Kidd said. “To be able to finish the way we did—it’s a good home win.”

NEXT UP

After a day of rest, the Bucks (29-23) will play their final game before the All-Star break on Wednesday night, when they host the Sacramento Kings (18-32).

A win would put the Bucks at 30 wins at the All-Star break for the first time since the 1990-91 season. It’s a benchmark that Milwaukee set for itself after they snatched a win from Toronto on Feb. 2.

“I wanted to get to 30 wins,” Dudley said. “If we win on Wednesday, that’s 30. It doubles their win total

[from last season]. It just sounds better. You get 30 wins by the break. You go out there, keep going.”

The Bucks edged the Kings 108-107 in Sacramento earlier this season, where a Zaza Pachulia free throw with six seconds left spelled the difference.

This will be the second and final meeting between the teams this year. The Kings will visit the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night, putting them on the second game in a back-to-back when they take the floor at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game can be seen on Fox Sports Wisconsin.

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