The Milwaukee Bucks came off of a huge double overtime victory at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but Jason Kidd’s squad couldn’t keep that momentum going on the road.
Milwaukee sustained a rough second quarter and trailed by 18 at the half, but after some adjustments, battled back to cut the deficit to six. However, Jason identified one particular sequence as the turning point: the Bucks failed to rebound a missed free throw in that third quarter, and Washington closed the frame on a 10-0 run en route to a 115-86 win at the Verizon Center.
“I thought the game was pretty good until we had a box-out situation in that third quarter. It was a six-point game. They went to the free throw line and miss both, and then we sent (Kris) Humphries back to the line and the floodgates opened.”
The Bucks played a strong first quarter, as Jerryd Bayless stayed hot, leading the way with eight points to push J-Kidd’s team out to a 29-27 lead. Going into Tuesday night, the Bucks led the NBA in first half field-goal and three-point percentage, and they continued that, shooting 50 percent in the first half from the field and from three, but the team’s defense lagged.
The Wizards shot 66.7 percent and scored seven points off five Milwaukee turnovers to build a massive 64-46 lead at the half. The Bucks turned it over 10 times in the first half and another nine times in the second half, one of their biggest downfalls on the night according to Jason.
“The turnovers, we missed some shots in the paint and we let our scoring affect our defense,” J-Kidd told the media. “As a team, once we missed some lay-ups or missed some easy shots we let our defense go.”
The Bucks fought back, though. Khris Middleton and Bayless went back-to-back from beyond the arc, each off Giannis Antetokounmpo assists to open the quarter. Middleton finished with a team-high 13 points, while Bayless wasn’t far behind at 13. Greivis Vasquez and John Henson were also in double figures off the bench with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Michael Carter-Williams was the fifth Buck in double digits with 12 points, and he made his biggest impact midway through the third. MCW buried a three and drove home for a dunk off a feed by Greg Monroe to make it just a six-point game, 72-66, with 5:50 left in the third.
But shortly after MCW’s spurt, Humphries went to the line and missed both free throws. However, he hustled in to get his own miss and was fouled by Antetokounmpo, sending him back to the line. He made both shots and the Bucks faltered after the sequence.
“Well it’s a six-point game on the road so I would have to say we recovered,” Jason said of his team in that third quarter, “it’s just at that point, again, the little things hurt us tonight.”
Milwaukee didn’t make another field goal until Vasquez downed a three-pointer more than two minutes into the fourth quarter. By then the lead had reached 21. Before it was over, John Wall, Otto Porter Jr. and former Buck Jared Dudley had the lead as high as 34.
Wall led the way with 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Porter added 19 points of his own and Dudley had 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench. All three players had a plus/minus of plus-30 or greater. Failing to stop that trio, Jason said, ultimately sunk Milwaukee.
“When you look at Wall, that’s what he does, that’s why he is one of the best in this league,” J-Kidd told the media. “And then you look at Porter and you look at Dudley, they both were in the plus-30’s, when you look at the plus-minus. Those guys hurt us tonight. Dudley did that well, he’s a great vet. He fits in here perfectly with Washington. But, for us, we have to understand when he’s on the floor, to locate him, and we just didn’t do that tonight.”
Jason was asked the difference between Milwaukee and D.C. on Tuesday night, and how the Bucks can get to where the Wiz are. He answered simply: experience and time playing together.
“Years. Not being 20, but being 25. You have to go through that process, and all the young teams have done it when you look at Oklahoma City, when they were young they made mental mistakes,” J-Kidd told reporters. “You look here in Washington, when they were young they made mental mistakes, and you just have to go through it and learn the hard way.”
NEXT UP
The Bucks (5-6) have another tough test right around the corner. They’ll stay on the road and take on the very team they beat in double-overtime over the weekend: the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Milwaukee delivered just the second loss of the season to LeBron James and the Cavs, though they turned around and suffered loss No. 3 on Tuesday night to the Detroit Pistons. Undoubtedly, the Cavs will be looking to get back on track and exact some revenge at home.
Tipoff from Quicken Loans Arena is set for 7 p.m. CT on Thursday night. The game will be nationally broadcast on TNT.
