After a rough stretch on the West Coast, Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks are hitting the All-Star break playing some of their best basketball of the season after back-to-back home victories.
Two nights after a win over the Boston Celtics, the Bucks topped the Washington Wizards 99-92 behind a tremendous 27-point, nine-assist night from Khris Middleton. It’ll be eight days until the Bucks play next, but Jason is pleased with the way his squad is executing the nuances of the game going into the break.
“On that road trip, we were in some close games, but we didn’t make plays, make the free throws or do the little things. And in the last two games here at home, we’ve done the little things to put ourselves in position to win,” Coach Kidd said. “This game could’ve easily gone the other way if we don’t make plays or stay together. There was no panic, we got stops, we rebounded the ball and we didn’t turn it over.”
For the second straight night, Greg Monroe and Michael Carter-Williams both came off the bench while O.J. Mayo and Miles Plumlee held spots in the starting lineup. It resulted in a bit of a slow stop for the Bucks, who fell behind 27-18 after one period. But the strategy paid big dividends in the second.
Milwaukee shot 63.2 percent from the field behind a combined 21 points from its four reserves: six by Monroe and five each from MCW, Jerryd Bayless and Rashad Vaughn. Led by 12 points and nine boards from Monroe, the Bucks bench combined to outscore the Wizards reserves 32-24 on the night.
“I like the way our bench is playing,” Jason said. “It’s giving us a fair shot. We were very thin, but now you see our bench is playing at a very high level. The last two games we’ve outscored our opponents’ bench, so that’s helped us win games.”
Meanwhile, starter Jabari Parker ran all 12 minutes of the second quarter and scored 12 points. Behind that big second period, the Bucks took a 55-46 lead into the half.
The scales tipped back in favor of the Wizards in the third quarter. Milwaukee coughed up seven turnovers and totaled just 14 points coming out of the break. That gave D.C. a slight, 70-69, advantage going into the final period.
The only positive of that third quarter came from beyond the arc. Washington went just 1-of-10 from three-point range in the third and finished the game 6-of-32 (18.8 percent) from distance. Jason and his staff implored their team to protect the three-point line, knowing full well how lethal the D.C. duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal can be from downtown.
“This team has shot a lot of threes against us and made a lot of threes, but tonight that wasn’t the case,” Jason said. “We made a conscious effort. At shootaround today, we talked about the three and how they try to take advantage of shooting the three. They have guys who can shoot it. I think everybody, Jabari, Giannis, even Moose got out and ran them off the three to make them take a tougher two. And then we finished plays. I thought that was big: not giving up the offensive rebounds.”
The exemplary three-point defense kept the Bucks right there for the fourth quarter—which is where Middleton took over. The Texas A&M product exploded for 14 points in the final frame.
A key sequence came early in the quarter after a Middleton miss. Monroe battled inside but missed two tip-ins before Middleton grabbed the rebound and tossed it back up and in through contact. He hit the ensuing free throw to tie the game at 75. The contest was tied again at 81 four minutes later, and Middleton canned a three from up top to give the Bucks a three-point lead, which they never relinquished.
After that clutch trey, Khris recorded back-to-back assists on buckets from Giannis Antetokounmpo, who stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Middleton came through with a couple more key dimes down the stretch to Parker and Monroe and was 8-of-9 from the charity stripe on the night.
Following the win, he was the lead story among the Milwaukee media, and needless to say, Coach Kidd had plenty to say about his budding young star.
“I thought Khris stepped up for us and took control offensively by making plays for himself or for his teammates,” Jason said. “We’re all excited about Khris’s development from day one. Not just this year, but last year. He’s picked up from there and he’s show that he can make plays for his teammates. Last year we just asked him to catch and shoot, this year he’s added being able to make plays.”
“Sometimes you want to put guys in a position and you want to see if they grab it—and he has grabbed it. Sometimes you can make the mistake of pushing someone in that direction and it sets them up for failure. For Khris, we put him in the position to see if he wanted it, and he clearly does.”
NEXT UP
After an eight-day break, the Bucks will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 19 to host the Charlotte Hornets (27-26).
Jason talked about his team’s mindset going into the break, and how once they get back to business, the Bucks will have to bring their very best.
“We’re starting to get it,” he said. “There’s no excuse, but we are young. We’re understanding what’s hurting us—offensive rebounds and giving up the three. Tonight we made a conscious effort, and hopefully we can build on this week. Sometimes you don’t want a break when you’re starting to play well. We understand that last year after the break we came out flat, so hopefully we’re ready to go. We don’t have a margin of error—we’re chasing teams. But we feel good about ourselves going into the break and we feel like we can continue to grow and get better.”
The Hornets are also entering the break on a hot streak. They’ve won three straight and five of they’re last six led by outstanding play from point guard Kemba Walker. Milwaukee and Charlotte have split two meetings so far this year, with both meetings coming at Charlotte’s Time Warner Cable Arena.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT for the third of four meetings between the two teams this season.
