The Milwaukee Bucks took on the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs on the second night of a back-to-back, which normally would’ve been an advantageous position for Jason Kidd’s club to take.
However, the Spurs were also coming off a shocking overtime loss to the NBA’s worst team, the New York Knicks, and they took their frustration out at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, topping Milwaukee 114-103.
“Pop
[Gregg Popovich] is always going to have his guys ready,” J-Kidd said. “They are the world champs. I don’t think anybody was surprised they played well tonight.”
San Antonio was clearly motivated at shot 50 percent from the floor and combined for 27 assists while turning it over nine times. Giannis Antetokounmpo paced the Bucks with 19 points and nine rebounds as all the Milwaukee starters scored in double-digits. Ersan Ilyasova added 17 points and Middleton 15 while Michael Carter-Williams had 11 points and six assists.
Bucks reserve center Miles Plumlee got his first significant playing time in a while — 18 minutes — and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Bucks led by one after one quarter, but San Antonio shot a blistering 61.9% in the second quarter and then made its first six shots after the break to build a 19-point lead. J-Kidd’s ball club tried to fight back, but was never able to come back from letting the Spurs find a rhythm.
“You look at that second quarter, I think we gave up thirty-something points,” Jason said. “They took control of the game at that point. We were fighting uphill. They knocked down a lot of threes tonight. Our communication on defense wasn’t at its best tonight, and they took advantage of it.”
The Bucks made a valiant effort, cutting the 19-point lead to just an eight-point deficit in the early moments of the fourth quarter, but there just wasn’t enough fire-power.
In a pivotal stretch of the game, Tyler Ennis took a three-pointer that may have been too ambitious after Milwaukee had been starving for a stop.
On the ensuing Spurs possession, Jerryd Bayless committed a flagrant-one foul on Marco Belinelli while he was attempting a three-point shot. Belinelli hit all three free throws, which all but ended any chance the Bucks had at a comeback.
“We could have cut it to eight or seven and we took a jump shot,” Coach Kidd said. “We have to understand that when we get stops the ball is drivable. We have to work the clock. Tyler (Ennis) came down, it isn’t just his fault, but he came down and took a rookie shot. They are all young. They are all going to make mistakes. You have to live with that until they understand time and score.”
Danny Green led the Spurs with 20 points and Boris Diaw added 18 as six San Antonio players scored in double figures. Tony Parker had 15 points and Kawhi Leonard 14.
But there were elements of the game that were won by the Spurs throughout the night, like making 30 free throws to Milwaukee’s 18, and dominating the paint 50-36.“These are the world champs,” Kidd said. “They move the ball as well as anyone. They shot the 3 extremely well. They’ve seen everything.”
NEXT UP
The Bucks (34-34) will be back in action with a quick one-game road trip Friday against the Brooklyn Nets (27-39).
The Nets have been slumping through the month of March, losing six of their last eight games, which puts them in desperation mode as they try to earn a playoff bid over the closing stretch of the season.
While Milwaukee sits relatively safely in sixth place, 3.5 games ahead of the eighth seed, the Nets have fallen off pace, 2.5 games behind the No. 8 seeded Boston Celtics (30-37).
The Bucks sit at 2-0 in the season series so far this year, and they’ll meet the Nets one more time, on April 12, for their third to last game of the season.
Tipoff for Round 3 is set for 7:30 p.m. ET from the Barclays Center.
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