Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks beat two of the NBA’s premier teams over the weekend: the Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors.
J-Kidd’s squad entered the weekend coming off two tough losses, but they were determined to get back on track, and that’s just what they did with a 112-101 win over the Clippers and a 101-94 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
“I thought the guys did a great job. I think it started yesterday at practice,” Jason said. “I thought their intent, their energy, their focus and the carryover to tonight was very good.”
Milwaukee had three players finish with at least eight assists, and as a team finished with 35 assists.
“I think it’s all predicated off communication, guys talking to one another. It’s not always going to be perfect but trying to solve it on the floor and I thought deflections, steals were high; but the passing was contagious. I think we had 35 assists tonight which has to be a record for us,” Kidd said. “But just to trust guys moving the ball and guys getting wide open shots and knocking them down.”
The Bucks had a 15-point lead after the first quarter and a 19-point halftime lead. The Clippers made the game interesting in the third when they were able to cut the lead down to three; however, Kidd’s team responded and never allowed the Clippers to get any closer.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greg Monroe tied for a team-high 24 points. Antetokounmpo added eight assists and five rebounds while Monroe recorded five assists and five rebounds.
Antetokounmpo was going up against Blake Griffin, who flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
“I think it was great for Giannis and Blake, two all-stars, two very talented players. I thought Giannis got in foul trouble and I thought the team did a really good job of understanding and picking up with him being out,” Jason said. “I’m not just relying on one person. The ball movement didn’t stop but the defense was high and I thought the rebounding was key for us. Even when they made the run there in that third, we got some big steals and we got out and ran.”
Matthew Dellavedova was one of the three Bucks players to finish with at least eight assists, as the first-year Buck scored 15 points and eight assists in 36 minutes off the bench.
“Delly is a true professional. We look at sometimes as a fan or from the outside we see someone struggling but we don’t look at all the little things that one does and he does that on a nightly basis,” J-Kidd said. “We don’t judge him on makes. We judge him on his competitiveness and he brings that every night and tonight’s another night that he was very high on the competitive and I thought he ran the team extremely well.”
Khris Middleton was the last of the three Milwaukee players to have at least eight assists. Middleton scored 19 points, nine assists, four rebounds and four steals in 33 minutes.
“I think anytime teams are switching and we’re playing through the matchup, one it gives our guys like Khris and Giannis the opportunity to play-make which they’re very good and they accept that,” Kidd said. “And then the next thing is to be aggressive and put the ball in the basket and I thought they did a great job of doing the balance of both of those things tonight.”
BUCKS TAKE DOWN RAPTORS
The following night, the Bucks were faced with the challenging task of hosting the Toronto Raptors.
It was a slow start for both teams, as the Bucks limited the Raptors to only 19 first quarter points; however, Milwaukee only managed to score 12 in the opening quarter.
“We like to score the ball and sometimes when we don’t score the ball we lose a little focus on the defensive end and I thought today was a perfect example of our maturity. Not scoring, having some great looks, the ball didn’t go in but we held a team to 19 points,” Kidd said. “So 19-12, it was a high scoring first quarter, nobody could make a shot, but then in that second quarter we got going offensively and defensively and that just shows our growth.”
Then in the second, the Bucks completely flipped the script, scoring 41 points and taking an 11-point lead into halftime.
Toronto cut Milwaukee’s lead down to four in the fourth, but that was as close as they would be able to get as the Bucks went on to win 101-94.
Spencer Hawes was the unexpected star of the night. Hawes had yet to play in game for Milwaukee since being traded over from the Charlotte Hornets, but the veteran big man finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in his first game off the bench.
“You talk about being a true pro, he hasn’t had the opportunity to play but just understanding he comes to practice and comes to work every day ready to go and it’s a great example for our younger players. Just be ready when your name is called,” Jason said. “He performed on both ends. He was great for us. Just understanding what he can do for us, he can stretch the defense by shooting the ball, setting screens and talking on defense.”
With Hawes getting some quality minutes, that means other bigs on the roster are forced to sit back and watch.
“We’ve got quite a few bigs. You’ve got to be patient. Everybody wants to play, but this isn’t C.Y.O,” Kidd said. “You look at John (Henson) hasn’t played for a while, he has to be a pro and he has to understand his turn is going to come and he has to be able to answer the bell. If this was the ‘80’s, we’d have a great roster, but this isn’t the ‘80’s. We have a lot of bigs, they just got to be patient.”
Middleton also had a terrific game, playing in his first back-to-back since returning from his hamstring injury.
“I thought Khris has done a great job. This is a step forward for his comeback. Understanding playing his first back-to-back and playing 30-plus minutes, you know 36 last night and 30 tonight, he’ll be tired,” J-Kidd said. “But again, it just shows how much we missed him early in the season, being able to rely on him offensively and defensively when we need a stop or we need a basket he’s involved in the play.”
Middleton scored a team-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. While his offensive additions were great, Kidd appreciated his contributions with his voice on the defensive end.
“It’s that simple, if our quiet player talks then everybody has to talk. I mean that just shows the maturity and the leadership that Khris is ready to take on. He understands as much as we talk about guys have to talk, as teammates you have to talk to one another, it’s not always the coaches responsibility to talk and tell you what to do,” Kidd said. “You can coach each other and that’s what the great teams, the playoff teams do and that’s what we’re learning to do right now. When Khris, one of our quietest guys, when he’s talking, then it gives Giannis and those guys the opportunity to talk too.”
While Dellavedova carried most of the point-guard burden on Friday night, it was Malcolm Brogdon that stepped up to the task on Saturday.
Brogdon finished with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists in 42 minutes.
“I trust all the smalls. We don’t have a lot of smalls, so I’ve got to play those guys. Delly played a lot of minutes last night, Malcolm’s going to play and lot of minutes and today’s game there’s a lot of small ball and a lot of wings are on the floor with one big,” Jason said. “Someone’s going to have to eat up some of those minutes. They’re going to have the opportunity to play a lot just because of the nature of today’s game and tonight was Malcolm and I thought he did a great job both offensively and defensively.”
Up next the Bucks will travel to Philadelphia to play the 76ers. The Bucks have lost the first two of four matchups to Philadelphia this season.
