Jason Kidd challenged his Milwaukee Bucks after Saturday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons, and they responded a big way in Monday night’s win over the Houston Rockets.
Milwaukee’s dynamic young 2-3-4 trio lead the way. Both power forward Jabari Parker (36) and two-guard Khris Middleton (30) eclipsed the 30-point mark, while small forward Giannis Antetokounmpo posted his second career triple-double with 18 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists in the thrilling 128-121 shootout win at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Jason questioned the energy and effort of his team after a poor fourth quarter in Saturday’s defeat, but against Houston, the Bucks succeeded where they couldn’t before. Milwaukee stacked its lead to 13 in the fourth quarter, and it needed that padding. A couple of offensive miscues brought Houston right back into the game. However, Jason’s crew came up with a few key defensive stops down the stretch to pull out the win.
“For a young team, we’ve been doing really well, when we need to get a steal or a stop, we’ve been able to execute that. I thought the guys did a great job,” Jason said. “I think we have to go through that. We’re young. We’re going to make mistakes. We made a couple of mistakes offensively, but that didn’t stop them on the defensive end. That just shows their growth and that they trust one another…You want to finish the game the right way. Against a team that’s in the playoffs, we came to play for 48 minutes. Everybody was a part of it. It’s a big win.”
Parker opened the contest with a driving layup in the first 20 seconds of the game, as the Bucks raced out to a 10-4 lead. The Rockets came back and took a 21-20 lead with four minutes remaining in the quarter, but Greg Monroe tipped the scales back with a spinning reverse layup after pulling down an offensive rebound.
With 1:21 remaining in the first quarter, Antetokounmpo dumped a pass to Parker for a layup to grab a 28-24 lead.
“From the start of the game he was aggressive…he didn’t force anything,” Jason said of Parker. “He just let the game come to him. I think the ball is touching his hands a lot more. You can see that in the relationship Giannis and Jabari have of finding one another. He’s a guy who wants to win, and you can see that.”
The Bucks scored the first nine points of the second quarter, capped off by a driving Antetokounmpo layup at the 9:27 mark to put Milwaukee ahead 41-26. The Rockets responded with a 9-2 run to pull within six points of the lead.
Houston made its run, though. James Harden knocked down a three-pointer with 4:26 left in the first half to drop the Bucks lead to 53-50. Shortly thereafter, Trevor Ariza canned a 25-footer to put the Rockets in front 58-57 with 2:15 remaining.
But the Bucks held strong to finish the first half. With 51 seconds remaining, Parker stole the ball and threw it off the backboard for an Antetokounmpo dunk.
“He’s an unselfish player,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think those lobs got me into the game.”
As it turned out, getting Giannis going paid big dividends in the second half. The Rockets led throughout most of the third quarter, but the Bucks came back to tie it late in the quarter. With 2:04 remaining in the third period, Jerryd Bayless knocked down a triple to knot the score at 86. Monroe followed it up with a layup to take an 88-86 advantage. But the game stayed deadlocked: The Rockets tied the score at 92 to end the third quarter.
Antetokounmpo scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, hitting two free throws and a mid-range jumper to put the Bucks up 96-92. But a few possessions later, Jason Terry tied it up with a three, and a back-and-forth ensued. A nice three-point play from Middleton brought the Bucks ahead, but it took a conventional three to keep the Bucks ahead
After a Harden layup put Houston within two, Antetokounmpo found Parker for a corner three-pointer—his first of the year and just the fifth of his career—to put the Bucks in front 109-104 with six minutes on the clock. It was a surprising moment for some to see the forward, normally spotted throwing down driving dunks, to can a three in a key situation late in the game, but J-Kidd knew he was more than capable.
“It was just a catch-and-shoot situation, which he shoots at a very high clip. We’re all happy it was a three,” J-Kidd said of Parker. “He’s another one who has put a lot of time into shooting behind the arc. He’ll get comfortable shooting that shot as time goes on.”
Houston came back to within one point twice before Jerryd Bayless got hot and stymied the rally. Bayless hit three times from three-point range in a two-minute span to put the Bucks back up by 13 with 2:29 to go
“He’s a pro,” Jason said of Bayless. “Being ready, he’s been out for a little bit, unfortunately for us. He’s had a heck of a year shooting the ball. You saw that tonight. He’s shooting from beyond the arc at a high clip.”
Then came some miscues. A timely three by Terry and back-to-back turnovers, followed by a shot clock violation, by the Bucks made it a four-point game once again.
But Milwaukee moved past it. Bayless and Middleton combined to go 3-of-4 from the free-throw line down the stretch, and the Bucks defense forced three-point misses by Harden and Patrick Beverley, as well as a five-second violation, to keep ahold of a seven-point victory.
NEXT UP
The Bucks continue with the third of their five-game homestretch against the Indiana Pacers Wednesday. This is a crucial game for Jason and the Bucks if they are going to climb into playoff contention in the Eastern Conference.
The Pacers (31-29) currently hold the No. 8 seed, sitting six games ahead of the Bucks. Indiana enters into Milwaukee on a three-game losing streak.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.
