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, starting with Coach Kidd’s triumphant return from injury.
No. 2: Bucks Welcome Jason Back With Win
After roughly a month out of commission due to hip resurfacing surgery Jason Kidd was welcomed back in a big way by his Milwaukee Bucks.
When Jason returned Jan. 26 against the Orlando Magic, the Bucks struggled a bit early on, falling behind by 16 points under a barrage of three-pointers by the Magic. But they battled, fighting back for a 107-100 win at home.
“I felt great. I was happy to be back, and I was happy to help. Hopefully I didn’t mess the guys up tonight,” Jason said with a smile. “I’ll take the blame on the coverage on the threes, but health wise, I feel great.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton led the game in scoring with 25 points apiece. Greg Monroe was a staple as well, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Milwaukee found itself in a 14-8 hole in the first quarter, after Orlando’s Tobias Harris hit a three-pointer. A Middleton trifecta late in the first quarter cut the Magic lead to 25-20, but the Bucks still trailed 30-23 at the end of one.
Early in the second, Giannis tipped in a Michael Carter-Williams miss, then followed with one of his eight dunks on the night to cut the lead to three, 30-27. But the Magic responded with a 7-0 run to grab a 10-point lead. The gap widened to 16 when Victor Oladipo canned a three midway through the period, but the Bucks came charging back.
Milwaukee mounted an 11-4 run in the final 2:30 of the first half—and Middleton capped that spurt with a triple with 16 seconds on the clock to cut the deficit to 56-53 going into the break.
“We didn’t guard the three extremely well. We have to get better at that,” J-Kidd said. “We understood that they were going to shoot some threes tonight and they made a lot early on. I like the composure of the guys in the first half. They were down and they didn’t stop playing. We found a way to get down three going into halftime, then in the third quarter we kind of took control of the game.”
A Jabari Parker dunk cut the lead to one, and at 7:30 in the third quarter, Monroe hit a pair of free throws to give the Bucks a 64-63 advantage. The Magic surged back to hold the lead midway through the period, but J-Kidd’s crew responded with a 10-0 run, capped off by an Antetokounmpo steal and fastbreak dunk, to lead 78-71 with 1:39 left in the quarter. At the end of the third, Orlando tightened the score back up, with Milwaukee leading by four, 82-78.
The Bucks extended their lead early in the fourth quarter. After a layup of his own, Monroe dished to a cutting Parker for a lay-in that stretched the lead to nine, 87-78, but the young Magic kept fighting as well, coming all the way back to tie it at 91 with 4:39 left in the quarter, and the score stayed close until the final minute.
With 35 seconds on the clock and the Bucks leading by one point, Middleton rose for a baseline jumper. The ball rolled off the rim, but Antetokounmpo came slashing through the lane to finish with a dunk and give his team a 100-97 lead.
Oladipo answered with a layup to cut it back to one, but Jerryd Bayless then delivered the dagger: a big three-pointer to give the Bucks the breathing room they needed. From there, Bayless and Middleton went 4-for-4 from the line to ice the win, and give Coach Kidd a proper welcome back party.
“We’re a team that doesn’t just have one guy who is going to score every night. We try to share the ball and play as a team and that gives us the advantage,” Coach Kidd said. “Khris has been playing at a very high level. Moose was big for us down the stretch on both ends. Michael set the tone defensively. Everybody had a hand in it…Bayless made big plays for us down the stretch—he’s done it all season. But if it wasn’t for our defense getting stops and going the other way, we would never have been in that position.”
