Coming out of the All-Star break, Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks endured a pair of tough battles that saw them go down to the wire with a pair of Eastern Conference contenders, and they came out of the Friday-Saturday back-to-back having taken some important steps in their growth.
Second year forward Jabari Parker paced the Bucks over the weekend with a pair of 20-plus point performances, his second and third such games of the season. He ended the grueling back-to-back by playing a season-high 51 minutes on Saturday night and chipping in a season-high 28 points to a 117-109 double overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
“I think he’s really finding his rhythm,” Jason said of Parker after the win. “He’s getting on the glass, he’s getting to the rim and he’s knocking down some shots.”
Parker’s 28 points led all scorers and Greg Monroe added 24 points off the bench in the victory while Giannis Antetokounmpo chipped in a double-double with 19 points and 12 boards.
But it was Parker who got things going early. The sophomore star hammered down a dunk early in the game to capitalize on a Bucks 5-0 run to start the game from an Antetokounmpo assist. With 6:56 remaining in the first quarter, Middleton extended the lead to 18-9 with a 20-footer. Monroe tipped in a shot with 4:18 left in the first quarter to give Milwaukee a 24-15 advantage, but the Hawks answered with a 9-0 run, capped off by a Dennis Schroder three-pointer to tie the game at 24. The Bucks held a 31-29 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was back and forth nearly the whole way through until Parker hit from 20 feet out with 1:15 left in the first half to give his team a 52-47 lead. Paul Millsap hit a trey with one second left in the half to pull the Hawks within four at the halftime, as Jason’s Bucks led 54-50.
Millsap made a driving layup early in the third quarter to put the Hawks ahead 57-56, but the game remained neck-and-neck. Antetokounmpo tipped the ball into the basket with 7:28 left to put the Bucks back in front 63-62, sparking a great stretch for the Bucks. Monroe made two free throws to cap off the 9-0 run to give Milwaukee a 69-62 lead with 4:11 remaining in the third period. They maintained that seven-point lead, 75-68, going into the final period.
Monroe and Parker led the charge throughout the fourth quarter to keep pace with the Hawks. Middleton and Mayo made free throws late in the game to give the Bucks a 94-92 lead with less than 10 seconds left. But Schroder hit the game-tying shot with three seconds remaining to force overtime.
The Bucks trailed 101-98 with under two minutes to play in the first overtime period. Carter-Williams connected on an 18-footer at the 1:47 mark to pull the Bucks within one point of the lead. The Hawks responded, but Parker stepped up to hit a layup with 1:12 left to reduce the Bucks deficit to 103-102.
“You can see his confidence growing and he’s going to be one of these young stars that’s going to raise the bar, and we’re lucky to have him on our side,” Jason said.
With 18 seconds remaining, Carter-Williams pulled down a defensive rebound was fouled on a shot. He made a free throw to put the Bucks on top 105-103. However, once again, the Hawks stayed alive. Al Horford made a nine-footer to tie the game 105-105 and force double overtime. But as Jason said in praise of is team afterward, the Bucks kept fighting for that win.
“They never looked at each other like here we go again,” Jason said. “We didn’t quit.”
Carter-Williams opened the second overtime with two consecutive buckets to give the Bucks a 109-105 lead.
“Coach just called a play for me and said, ‘Be in attack mode,'” Carter-Williams said. “That’s what I did. Good things happened.”
With 3:20 remaining in the period MCW kept following J-Kidd’s advice. The young point guard drained another shot, a 16-footer to take a 111-105 lead. Parker extended the lead to 113-105 at the 2:54 mark with a driving layup off an assist from Mayo.
“We were trying to keep his minutes down,” Jason said of Parker. “We knew we didn’t want to get him in the 40 range. They didn’t say anything about the 50 range. He played at a very high level on both ends. You can see his confidence growing and he’s going to be one of these young stars that’s going to raise the bar, and we’re lucky to have him on our side.”
Monroe sealed the victory with a layup with 1:43 left to put the Bucks ahead 115-105. The Hawks only managed four points in the second overtime.
“They just stayed the course,” Jason said. “They fought, and it’s a well-deserved win.”
HORNETS OUTLAST BUCKS AT HOME
The win in Atlanta was a good bounceback effort from Jason’s Bucks after a hard-to-swallow defeat a night earlier on their home court.
Milwaukee led through three quarters in their first game coming out of the All-Star break, but despite another 20-plus scoring output from Parker (23 points), another double-double from Antetokounmpo (18 points, 11 rebounds) and a 20-point night from Khris Middleton, the Bucks couldn’t close the deal in the fourth quarter and fell 98-95 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Friday night.
The Bucks only lost by three but committed 22 turnovers, which led to 28 Hornets points.
“We have to take care of the ball,” Jason said. “We get the offensive rebounds, and we throw it out of bounds. We have to be able to take care of the ball to get a shot in, and we just didn’t do that.”
Milwaukee had a tough time stopping Kemba Walker and Cody Zeller, who went for 25 and 23 points respectively.
The Bucks took an early 6-2 lead when Antetokounmpo scored underneath off an assist from Middleton. The Hornets grabbed an 11-10 lead at the 6:30 mark in the first quarter when Zeller hit a layup off a Walker assist. The Hornets extended the lead to six, before MCW buried a 40-foot heave at the end of the quarter to cut it to three, 28-25.
Carter-Williams kept it going when he capped an 8-0 run early in the second with a 25-foot three to put Milwaukee ahead 30-28. Charlotte regained the lead, and Jeremy Lamb extended that advantage to five points with a layup at 7:03 in the second quarter. The Bucks responded by scoring the next five, capped off by a Middleton assist on a Parker dunk to tie the game at 45 with 3:43 remaining in the first half. Antetokounmpo made two free throws with a minute left in the second quarter to give the Bucks a 52-50 lead, but the Hornets tied it up 52-all before the half.
The Hornets claimed a lead early in the third quarter, but a dunk from Miles Plumlee tied the game at 58 with 9:40 remaining in the period. Middleton nailed long trey from an O.J. Mayo assist to put the Bucks in front 65-60 with 7:41 left in the third quarter. A few minutes later, Middleton hit another trey to give Milwaukee a 71-61 advantage.
By the end of the third quarter, the Bucks led 78-70. With 9:15 remaining in the fourth quarter, Lamb knocked down a three from 27 feet out to cut the Bucks lead to 80-77. The game kept teetering back and forth, as Walker added a triple of his own with 6:43 left in the game to give the Hornets the lead again at 82-80. Middleton drove for a layup to temporarily put the Bucks back in control 86-84 with four minutes to play, but Charlotte responded with an 8-2 run that gave the Hornets a four-point advantage.
Trailing 94-91 with 45 seconds remaining, Middleton drew a foul from Lamb on a three try. He made two of his three free throw attempts to cut the Hornets lead to 94-93. But when Marvin Williams answered with a 10-footer with 24 seconds left to give the Hornets a three-point lead, it was enough to give the Bucks their ninth home loss on the season.
NEXT UP
After the brief trip south, the Bucks (23-33) return to host the Los Angeles Lakers (11-46) Monday night.
The Lakers have won only five road games all season and have lost their last five contests. Kobe Bryant, playing in his final season, has scored more than 20 points in his last two games. This will be Bryant’s final time playing in Milwaukee.
Tipoff at the Bradley Center is set for 7 p.m. CT on Fox Sports Wisconsin.
