Monday night’s duel between Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks and the New Orleans Pelicans featured two of the NBA’s most athletic young stars, who also happen to have two the league’s best nicknames.
Anthony Davis (The Brow) for NOLA and Giannis Antetokounmpo (The Greek Freak) for the Bucks both shined, posting career nights in a shootout. Giannis had a career-high 29 points, but it simply wasn’t enough to overcome an MVP-caliber performance from Davis, who matched a career-best 43 points as the Pelicans defeated the Bucks 114-103.
Giannis stuffed the box score with five rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks in 37 minutes as he went 11-of-16 from the floor. Coach Jason Kidd instilled nothing but confidence in the Greek Freak as he faced off with the league’s best big man in Davis.
“He just wasn’t hesitating; I think he was being aggressive,” J-Kidd said of Antetokounmpo. “He was giving the bump and not waiting for them to bump him. He got some great looks and he knocked them down. We have to build on this.”
As the Pelicans race for the eighth spot in the Western Conference, Coach Kidd knows they have to look to Davis to carry them into the postseason. Along with his 43 points, he tallied 10 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.
“This is what stars do at this time of the year. They step up. He made some shots early that got him going, and we could just never get him uncomfortable,” Jason said of Davis. “We started to try to come get him, but when you’re 7 feet tall and can turn and shoot over guys or pass over the double-team, it becomes hard.”
Davis was 6-of-7 for 14 points in the first quarter, while Khris Middleton and Antetokounmpo combined for 18 to keep the Bucks right there, trailing just 29-26 after one.
The Pelicans used the deep ball to create some space in the second, going 5-of-6 from deep to take a 60-50 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter then belonged to the Bucks. Davis went for 12 points, but that came out modest as Giannis and Michael Carter-Williams combined for 26—12 of which came from the free throw line. Milwaukee’s young duo showed some wonderfully promising play throughout the night, but especially in the third.
The Greek Freak showed why he earned that nickname midway through the frame when he made fools of the entire NOLA defense with a frighteningly quick spin move through the lane, which he finished with an explosive two-handed jam.
That dunk cut the Pelicans lead to just two points, and the Bucks went to the final frame trailing by just three, 87-84.
The Bucks kept battling, and eventually, Giannis put them ahead 101-100 on a tough off-balance jumper with 3:36 to go—but Davis simply refused to let his team lose. The Pelicans star scored the next eight points for his team, and his clutch 19-foot jumper with just 50.9 seconds to go gave New Orleans a 108-103 lead.
Throughout the night, the Pelicans were just making shots. New Orleans shot 60 percent in the first half, and made 58.7 percent of their attempts for the game. Eric Gordon added 16, and Tyreke Evans had 13 before leaving the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury.
Antetokounmpo had some backup as well. Carter-Williams tallied 25, his highest-scoring game for Milwaukee since being acquired last month in a trade-deadline deal, and Middleton scored 17.
“I think he’s a perfect fit,” Jason said of MCW. “He can score, he causes a matchup problem, being able to force as witch. That means Giannis is going to have a small and he’s going to have a big, and it’s up them to make a play and read what’s in front of them. Those guys are young, they’re going to make mistakes, but that’s just the game of basketball, and we’re all hear to get better.”
A large discrepancy in the teams’ box scores was Milwaukee’s inability to hit the deep shot while one of their top outside shooters, O.J. Mayo, sat with a tweaked hamstring. The Bucks went 4-of-15 from beyond the arc while New Orleans went 9-of-15 from the outside.
“We had some great looks early on that we didn’t make,” Coach Kidd said. “Coaches and our players, we encourage them to keep taking those wide-open shots. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t, but we have to get stops on the other end, and we just didn’t do that tonight.”
Although Milwaukee struggled from downtown, the Bucks stayed aggressive and attacked the rim. The Bucks were 25-of-31 from the charity stripe and score 42 points in the paint. Coach Kidd was also pleased with the way his team got out in transition, scoring 17 points in the open court.
“Even though we were giving up points, we were scoring on the other end,” Coach Kidd said. “We gotta do the little things. Knocking down free throws and learning when not to turn the ball over. We are a young team, and this is good experience, and we feel like we got better today even though we lost.”
NEXT UP
The Bucks (33-30) will have Tuesday to rest and regroup before a key Eastern Conference back-to-back, starting Wednesday night with the Orlando Magic (21-43).
Following their tilt with the Magic, the Bucks will head on the road to take on the Indiana Pacers (28-34), who are just 4.5 games behind them in the seventh slot in the East standings.
Milwaukee will first focus on Orlando. The two teams have played to a 1-1 split this season, and this will be the third of a four-game season series. The final matchup is scheduled for April 4.
The Magic will first take on the Pacers Tuesday night, putting them on the second night of a back-to-back when they arrive in Milwaukee. They’ll take a two-game winning streak into their tilt with Indy.
Wednesday night’s tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET from the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
