The Milwaukee Bucks picked up their first win of the season in thrilling fashion Saturday night on their home court against Coach Jason Kidd’s former team, the Brooklyn Nets.
But back on the road a day later, Milwaukee couldn’t make it two straight, falling to the Detroit Pistons.
Though the Bucks played well at home against the Nets and struggled a bit on the road against the Pistons, Jason left the team’s first back-to-back of the young season confident that his squad will become a force once all of their new and moving parts build a rapport over the course of the year.
“We’re looking for the leader; the one guy we can play through. Giannis (Antetokounmpo) again had a great night, almost had a triple-double, but again it’s just someone they can trust offensively who’s not just going to take a shot, but can create a shot for someone,” Jason said after Sunday’s game. “And this only being our third game, I think you’ve got Delly
[Matthew Dellavedova], you’ve got Giannis and Jabari [Parker], guys that can do that and as they get comfortable understanding one another you’ll see them turn the page in a positive.”
HENSON BEATS BUZZER
The highlight of Milwaukee’s first win of the year came off the hand of reserve center John Henson.
After positioning himself in the right place at the right time, Henson leaped up and tipped in a Jabari Parker miss just before the buzzer to push Milwaukee to a 110-108 victory.
The putback was one of 12 rebounds and accounted for two of the big man’s seven points. Henson also added three steals, two blocks, and two assists in 21 minutes of action, and he and the entire Bucks club earned a hat-tip from Jason afterward.
“Henson played great for us, the 20 minutes that he played,” J-Kidd said. “But the composure of the guys that were in there late to execute the last second play, Jabari (Parker) gets to the rim, misses the layup and (Henson) finishes it by tipping it in, so tip your hat to those guys for executing the play.”
RASHAD SHINES
Aside from the buzzer-beater, the best development of the night for Milwaukee was the spectacular performance by second-year man Rashad Vaughn. The reserve guard caught fire from downtown, drilling 6-of-12 attempts from three-point range.
His 22 points set what is by far a new career-high. The 20-year-old only broke double figures scoring four times last year with a previous career-high of 12. And his play on Saturday night and through the first three games of the season has left Coach Kidd thrilled with his young guard’s progress.
“He’s listening, which is a good sign,” Jason said. “Not just the coaches, but his teammates are telling him to shoot because he can shoot it, and he’s worked extremely hard on that, and tonight showed that it’s paid off.”
TROUBLE WITH TURNOVERS
The Bucks left Milwaukee and headed to Detroit riding a wave of adrenaline after their buzzer-beating victory on Saturday, but by Sunday the energy had worn off and a tough Pistons team wore them down.
The Bucks fell behind early and were never able to fully regroup, dropping the contest 98-83 Milwaukee trailed by as many as 13 before chipping back to within two in the third quarter. However, a series of costly turnovers and missed offensive opportunities allowed the Pistons to pull back out to a 10-point lead, which they held through the finish.
“Turnovers. And not just turnovers, but the shots, we didn’t make them and we didn’t end the quarter right. They score on a layup right before the buzzer, right before the quarter ends, and also before that they knock down a three in transition,” Kidd said. “So five points when we work that hard, you know to be only down two, you know we’ve got to do a better job of executing on offense and to make sure we get the last shot and also being able to finish.”
NEXT UP
The Bucks will look to get back to the .500 mark on Tuesday night when they head to New Orleans to face Anthony Davis and the Pelicans.
NOLA has faced a treacherous schedule thus far, falling to 0-3 with losses to the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors. The Bucks and the Pelicans split two meetings last year, with the home team winning both games.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET from the Smoothie King Center and the game can be seen on FS-Wisconsin.
