Bucks Split First Weekend of 2015

Jason Kidd has his Milwaukee Bucks off to a great start this season, already easily eclipsing the squad’s win total from all of last season.

But as the Young Bucks look to be well on their way to a playoff berth, they’ve hit a bump in the road, with a pair of starters—star rookie Jabari Parker and center Larry Sanders—out of service.

But as the calendar turned to 2015, the Bucks didn’t fret about their absent stars, instead they stuck to their “Next Buck Up” mentality in a close, 94-91, loss to the Indiana Pacers and a blowout, 95-82, victory over the New York Knicks.

One of the brightest lights to shine for Milwaukee over the weekend was veteran center Zaza Pachulia, who stepped into a lead role without hesitation. The Georgian big man tallied 12 points and 14 boards in the defeat to Indiana and followed that up with a season-high 16-point, 14-rebound performance against the Knicks. As Pachulia rolled in place of Sanders, Jason’s team-first mentality was on display.

“We play hard and we’re a team not built on one guy,” J-Kidd said. “We’re built on everybody doing their job and understanding their role and doing it as hard as they can.”

JUST OFF PACE

The Friday night tilt between the Pacers and the Bucks featured an excellent guard battle between Indy’s C.J. Miles and Milwaukee’s Brandon Knight.

Miles ripped the Bucks for 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc, but Knight responded with 20 points off 9-of-19 shooting, along with seven dimes and four steals, earning some high praise from his coach and point guard mentor.

“We told the guys he can shoot; he’s one of the hottest players right now behind the arc,” J-Kidd said. “They found out quickly he was shooting the ball extremely well. He made a couple tough threes, but when you get going early like that, the basket gets big.”

Seven of Knight’s 20 points came in the first quarter, while Miles put in eight to give Indy a 23-21 lead after one. Knight stayed hot, adding five more points in the second, while Pachulia and John Henson pounded the paint to push Milwaukee to the lead.

The duo combined for 14 points down low, and the Bucks totaled 18 points in the paint and shot 65 percent to take a 53-46 lead into the locker room.

“In that second quarter when the ball is touching the paint and multiple guys are touching it, it’s pretty fun to watch,” Jason said. “In that third and fourth quarter we just didn’t get to it.”

After the Bucks dominated in the post through the second, the Pacers walled off the painted area in the second, forcing Knight, Khris Middleton and Jared Dudley to combine for 13 of the team’s 15 points in the frame, while Henson was the team’s only post player to score in the frame, notching just two points.

As a result, the Bucks saw their lead dwindle to just two for the fourth quarter. In the final frame, the visitors came out firing.

Indiana poured on 15 points in the first five minutes of the fourth. Donald Sloan knocked won the go-ahead three to make it 73-72, and Miles added two of his own shortly after, making it 81-76, Pacers.

From then on out, the Pacers locked down defensively to ice the win. Indy held Milwaukee to 37.5 percent shooting in the fourth to leave the BMO Harris Bradley Center with a win.

The Pacers handed the Bucks their third consecutive home loss. Kidd’s squad is just 7-7 at home on the year, the worst mark of any of the top six teams in the Eastern Conference thus far. Middleton, who finished with 11 points, eight boards, three assists and two steals, lamented that mark after the game.

“Of course it’s frustrating,” Middleton said. “You want to come home and deliver a win for the fans. They’ve been supporting us all year, which has been great. We’ve got to figure it out ASAP.”

MSG VICTORY

Most young teams struggle away from home, but J-Kidd’s ball club seems to thrive when they travel.

After falling at home, the young Bucks went on the road to the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, and notched their fourth straight home win. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way for Milwaukee, scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to send New York its 11th consecutive loss.

The Knicks were without Carmelo Anthony, Iman Shumpert and Amar’e Stoudemire, but Zaza and the rest of the veterans didn’t let that hinder the psyche of the team’s approach.

“It doesn’t matter who we play against; we have to play hard every single night,” Pachulia said. “We have a lot of young players and we’re trying to learn. We have to handle our business. Overall we didn’t relax and we played hard.”

That effort was apparent on the defensive end from the get-go. The Bucks forced seven turnovers in the first quarter, then another six in the second. They also limited the Knicks to just 31.3 percent shooting in the second.

The Bucks largest lead in the first half was after Brandon Knight converted two free throws, extending the lead to 12 with just over four minutes to play in the half, 40-28. Knight finished with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field.

Jason was asked before the game if Brandon Knight deserved an All-Star berth.

“I think if you go on numbers he has a chance and if your team is winning you should always be looked upon so we’ll see,” Jason said of Knight.

Coach Kidd also gave high praise to rookie forward Johnny O’Bryant, who scored 10 points in 22 minutes. O’Bryant was just 1-of-4 with two points in the first half, but turned around to go 2-of-4 for eight points in the third.

“In the first half he was shooting a lot of jump shots and in the second half he was catching and going to the basket and getting fouled,” J-Kidd said. “He made the adjustment.”

Knight raised O’Bryant, posting nine points in the third, while Middleton and Pachulia combined for 11, as the Bucks tacked four points onto their lead and entered the fourth ahead 76-64.

The Bucks attacked the rim, getting to the line 27 times and converting 21 free throws. Point guard Kendall Marshall was the only player from the bench to reach the charity stripe, converting all three of his attempts and finishing with 15 points off the bench. Nine of those came in the final frame.

Aside from Marshall, no other reserve player registered more than four points. Jason often boasts about the incredible depth of his Bucks squad, but on Sunday night at MSG, the starters carried the load.

“Normally our bench is the one that helps the starters,” Jason said. “Tonight the starters picked up for the bench. I thought that was a good sign of the team coming together.”

Marshall’s nine points were matched by a combined 10 from Giannis and Zaza, and the Bucks salted away the victory.

NEXT UP

Bucks (18-17) are looking to break their three-game home skid against the Phoenix Suns (20-16) Tuesday night.

The last time the two teams faced off, Khris Middleton banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to break the hearts of the Phoenix players at the US Airways Center and win the game with no time left, 96-94.