Jason Kidd and the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t finish where they hoped in 2015-16, but the season still brought some terrific times for the young squad.
As J-Kidd and Co. work toward owning the future, we’re counting down their Top 5 games from this past season. At No. 4: Milwaukee stuns the Eastern Conference champions.
No. 4: Bucks Team Up to Stop Streaking Cavs
The Milwaukee Bucks didn’t slow down Lebron James — he scored 37 points for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the Bucks scored enough as a team to snap the Cavaliers’ eight-game win streak.
Six Bucks players reached double digits as Coach Kidd’s Bucks outlasted the Cavaliers 108-105 in double overtime on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015, at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The win put the Bucks squarely at 5-5.
“Tonight we fought and not just for 48 minutes but for the two overtimes,” Jason said.
Michael Carter-Williams and Jerryd Bayless led all Bucks scorers in the win against the Cavaliers with 17 points apiece. Greivis Vasquez also made a difference off the bench, scoring 13 points.
Both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greg Monroe posted double-doubles, as Antetokounmpo scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Monroe had 16 points and 17 boards. Jabari Parker added 12 points and Khris Middleton tacked on 11.
A back-and-forth first quarter left the score tied at 23. The Cavs jumped on the lead early in the second quarter, as James made a driving layup to pull the Cavaliers ahead 34-27 with 8:44 left in the period.
Trailing 37-29, the Bucks went on a 9-0 run, capped off by a Bayless 25-foot three-pointer to give Milwaukee a 38-37 lead. Vasquez dished on the trey, and Bayless returned the favor later in the game.
After the Cavaliers tied the game at 42, the Bucks went on a 6-0 spurt, as an Antetokounmpo 18-footer gave them a 48-42 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. The Bucks still led by six, 50-44, at halftime.
Jason said after the game Antetokounmpo played well on both ends of the floor, although he’s not ready to compare him with James just yet.
“It’s not fair to compare; you’re talking about the best in the world,” Jason said of James. “For Giannis, I thought he did better tonight, competing defensively and taking what the defense gave him. But there’s always room for improvement.”
Cleveland’s Kevin Love, who scored 24 points in the game, hit a three-point jumper to give the Cavs a 55-54 lead at 9:14 in the third quarter. But the Bucks responded with a 10-0 run to take a 70-61 advantage into the break.
Vasquez assisted on another Bayless trey with 8:10 left in the third quarter to put the Bucks ahead 80-71. Cleveland slowly chipped away at the lead throughout the remainder of the period, and a James driving dunk with 16 seconds on the clock tied the game at 88 to send the game to overtime.
“We had our opportunities to win it (in regulation), but they kept playing,” Jason said.
Monroe scored the first two points of the overtime period, and MCW added four more to put the Bucks up 94-90. But try as they might, the Bucks couldn’t hold off LeBron. Another James deuce, this time with a driving layup, tied the game at 96 to force a double overtime.
Only 12 seconds into the second OT, James had already hit a trifecta to give Cleveland a 99-96 lead. Milwaukee responded, scoring five straight points, but Cleveland kept at it, with the tenacity that eventually sent them to the NBA Finals. The Bucks only led 103-102 before one more shot put the finishing touches on a gutsy win over the Eastern Conference regular season champions.
With 1:53 left in the game, Bayless drove down the middle of the lane and kicked out to Vasquez, who drained a 25-footer to push the Bucks in front 106-102. The Cavaliers were unable to recover.
“This was a confidence win for us,” Vasquez said. “This is something that we need to build from. We’ll take this win. That’s a playoff team; this is a quality win for us.”
