The wild finish in Milwaukee all came down to one word for Jason Kidd’s Bucks: preparation.
The Boston Celtics strolled into the BMO Harris Bradley center as winners of four straight and nine of their last 10. The C’s had ascended to third place in the Eastern Conference amid that run, but the stretch was also revealing to J-Kidd’s staff.
Boston had been through numerous close games of late—most notably a 104-103 thriller of the top seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. But through the makes and the misses, the whistles and the free throws, the Bucks came out on top, and Jason tipped his cap to his staff and players for a job well done in the 112-111 nail-biter.
“They scored 37 in the fourth. They’re going to keep playing. They’re one of the hottest teams in the league. We respect how many close games they’ve been in late,” Jason said of Brad Stevens’ Celtics. “I thought the coaching staff was prepared. We understood what plays they were going to run late, and we understood they were going to a zone on that last play. And the guys were prepared for that, and they executed the play.”
A 40-point third quarter put the Bucks up big, but Boston battled its way back, and a game-tying three-pointer from the left wing by Jae Crowder with 23.9 to go set the stage for a wild finish. On the following play, Milwaukee’s typical clutch option Khris Middleton deferred down low to the hot hand of the night, big man Greg Monroe. Moose dropped in a beautiful hook shoot that looked like it would be the deciding bucket with just 1.9 remaining.
However, Jerryd Bayless was whistled for a foul on the ensuing Boston possession, and Kelly Olynyk tied the game back at 111 with two free throws. However, Middleton got the last laugh. The Milwaukee guard drew a foul with 0.6 left on the clock and hit the first end of two free throws, giving the Bucks a one-point advantage. He intentionally missed the second, leaving Boston with no time to work, icing the game.
“The guys did a great job tonight to put themselves in a position to win and they found a way to win,” Coach Kidd said. “Unfortunately, they made a run. They made free throws down the stretch. I thought our guys kept their composure and executed the play. Khris was open, had a good look, got fouled. He made the first free throw and he made the right basketball play after that by missing the free throw, so that we can win.”
The Celtics went down low early in the game for 16 points in the paint in the opening quarter. The visitors shot 57.1 percent from the floor to take a 30-26 advantage in the first. The Bucks started the game without their usual first-string center in Monroe on the floor. Jason wanted to give his team a different look and bolster his second unit, which had struggled lately to find consistent production.
So he brought Monroe off the bench, and the big man responded tremendously. Moose led all scorers with 29 points and added 12 rebounds—both figures the most by any player off the bench in the NBA this year. That performance, and the grace with which Monroe handled being sent to the second unit, earned some high praise from Coach Kidd.
“He was sixth man of the year. That type of line would make him an All-Star and he would probably be front-runner for sixth man of the year,” Jason said of Monroe. “It’s not easy when you’ve started your whole career to be asked to do something different. You tip your hat to him being a pro—he never complains; he just does his job. And he did it at a very high level tonight.”
Monroe powered the Bucks in the second quarter, going 5-of-8 from the floor for 11 points to make it just a one-point game, 54-53, at the break. Moose helped the Bucks to dominate the game in terms of interior scoring. Milwaukee held a 64-44 scoring advantage down low.
Jason saw the interior as an avenue to success for Milwaukee, so at halftime, he stressed hard play down low on both ends of the floor. His team listened. The Bucks exploded for 40 points in the third quarter, limiting the C’s to 20 points in the same timeframe.
The emphasis on defense was apparent. Boston shot just 29.4 percent and turned it over eight times. The Bucks got 14 easy points off the Celtic miscues, and they shot 75 percent from the field in the process to take control of the game.
“The third quarter was big, but we felt giving up some offensive rebounds there in the first half put us behind. We talked about at halftime finishing plays so that we can get out and run and I thought in the third quarter we did that,” J-Kidd told the media. “We finished plays, we got out and ran and then we played through Moose when we didn’t have the break. He was unbelievable.”
By the end of three quarters, Moose had 27 points, but he didn’t score again until the Bucks needed him the most. Milwaukee led 93-74 after 36 minutes, but Boston clawed its way back into the game. The C’s hit four threes and went 7-of-7 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, and the rally hit a fever pitch when Crowder canned a three to tie the game at 109 with just 23.9 seconds to go.
The Celtics knew full well that this was Khris Middleton territory, and the entire Boston defense had its eye on No. 22. But Middleton made a great play, dumping down to the low block to Monroe, who put through the go-ahead bucket. The unselfish play earned praise from Jason, as did the following offensive play by Giannis Antetokounmpo.
As the inbounder, The Greek Freak was blanketed by Amir Johnson on the game’s final play. But the long-armed Antetokounmpo found just enough space to drop it in to Middleton. Khris was trapped by both Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart, but he made a savvy play, leaping up and drawing the foul. Then the 87.3 percent free throw shooter won it at the line.
“There’s 82 games to be played and it’s hard to be consistent in this league. It’s hard to be that star that’s going to deliver every night. For Khris to take the backseat because “Moose” is playing well,” Jason said. “And I thought that last play everybody will talk about Khris getting fouled, but the hardest part is passing that ball and I thought Giannis made a heck of a pass to get the ball to Khris. He didn’t panic, he took his time and made the right play and Khris did the rest.”
NEXT UP
The Bucks (21-32) have one final test before the All-Star break when they play host the Washington Wizards (23-27) Thursday night. Milwaukee will look to avoid a season sweep against the Wiz after falling in three meetings earlier this season.
Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT from the Bradley Center.
