Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks came through with two great performances over the weekend.
The Bucks followed a 12-of-14, 26-point night from Jabari Parker to a 113-110 win at home over the Orlando Magic on Friday night. Then they welcomed the Chicago Bulls to town and were within one point of their regional rivals, but in a 102-98 loss, they couldn’t hold off the Bulls, who were desperate for a win in the playoff race.
“They were playing hard,” Jason said of the Bulls. “They’re playing to try to get into the eighth spot. They had a tough loss the other night, so we knew how important it was. We tried to make it tough on them. It was a one-possession game, and they got the stop. But we couldn’t get the stop when we needed one.”
JABARI OUTCASTS MAGIC
Milwaukee seized control early on against Orlando. Rashad Vaughn got the nod in the starting lineup for the first time in his young career to fill in for the injured Jerryd Bayless, and the rookie put his team up 10-4 with a driving layup three minutes into the game.
Center Greg Monroe worked the inside, going a perfect 7-for-7 for 14 points in the opening period. Three of his buckets came on assists from Giannis Antetokounmpo. The budding 6-foot-11 star recently assumed the role of point guard in J-Kidd’s offense, and he hasn’t disappointed.
Giannis went for an 18-point, 11-assist, 11-rebound triple-double, his fifth of the year. Coach Kidd recently announced his plans for Antetokounmpo at the one, and he is glad to see him already taking to the new role.
“Yeah that’s old news now,” Jason said after Giannis’ latest triple-double. “Not just the triple-doubles, but we’re looking at the turnovers—he had four, and that’s four too many. I thought his intent of being aggressive, he’s learning how to find guys. He’s going to miss some guys, but he’s going to make up for it over an 82-game season. Hopefully he can build on this.”
While Giannis had the offense humming, the Bucks raced out to a 31-22 lead after one quarter of play.
The Magic slowly inched their way back in the second quarter, finally taking their first lead since 2-0 when Evan Fournier hit a three-pointer to lead 55-53 with 40 seconds left in the first half. Shortly thereafter, Middleton answered with a trey of his own with one second on the clock to put the Bucks ahead 58-57 at halftime.
The Bucks got out to a fast start to the third quarter. Just under a minute into the period, Antetokounmpo raced to the basket and threw a pass around the back of a Magic defender into the hands of a cutting Parker, who finished with a layup to give the Bucks a 63-57 lead.
Antetokounmpo found Parker again with 4:03 left in the third quarter when he drove down the left side of the lane to draw defenders and found an open Parker on the other side of the basket to push the Bucks lead to 81-70.
“When you’re 12-for-14, I thought he was off the charts for us,” Jason said of Parker. “Not just his offense but his defense. He’s been making a conscious effort defensively. Some of his finishes tonight we will see on the highlight film.”
But in what J-Kidd identified as a “game of runs,” the Magic made theirs. Orlando ended the third quarter on a 15-3 spurt to lead 85-84 going into the fourth quarter.
Orlando kept its run going into the fourth quarter, as a wide open Victor Oladipo splashed a triple with 6:19 remaining to give the Magic a 102-96 lead. The Bucks didn’t let the game get away from them, however, and with 1:16 remaining, Tyler Ennis scooped in a layup to place the Bucks back in front 108-107.
“Tyler’s not going to panic,” Jason said of Ennis, who finished with seven points and eight assists of the bench. “He’s a guy, no matter what the score, he’s always calm. He’s a point guard that is always under control. His teammates trust him.”
Ennis brought Milwaukee back, but Jabari finished the job. With the 10 seconds remaining in the game, Parker corralled a jump ball and worked his way around Magic defenders from close range to push the Bucks back into the lead at 111-110.
“When he got the tip, being able to not panic, not rush,” Jason said. “He took his time. You can see his growth. He was in that position once before, and he threw it to the stands where he thought someone was there. But he has learned, he took his time, and he finished.”
A pair of Ennis free throws with three seconds left iced the game and allowed the Bucks to escape with a three-point victory, but it was Parker who ended up doing just enough both on the offensive and defensive end to hold off the Magic.
“He helped us win the game defensively,” Jason said. “Somehow you’ve got to get a stop if you’re going to win games, and we got a stop. Both offensively and defensively, we executed.”
BULLS EDGE BUCKS LATE
The Bucks didn’t have the same luxury Sunday of getting out to an early lead, as the Bulls led from tip to buzzer. But while the Bucks never led, they stayed in it throughout, keeping it within 10 throughout the second half and staying within just a couple of possessions through most of the fourth quarter.
Milwaukee’s bench had to step up with both Bayless and Middleton sidelined for the game. Bayless remained out with a hyperextended knee, while Middleton was a late scratch due to a strained left thigh.
Damien Inglis started in his place, and Johnny O’Bryant III turned in big mintues off the bench to help fill the void in the second half.
“Khris was a late scratch,” Jason explained. “There was no preparation of playing without him. So we just had to see how Damien responded to the emergency start. I thought he did a good job, not knowing that he was going to start or play. He gave us some positive minutes. And then we made another change at halftime, starting J.O.B. And I thought he was definitely a positive when he was on the floor.”
With Middleton out, Giannis and Jabari powered the ship. Antetokounmpo filled up the stat sheet once again with 34 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Parker tallied 24 with 11 boards and three dimes. The two accounted for all 24 of Milwaukee’s points in the opening frame.
After trailing a majority of the first quarter, Antetokounmpo made two free throws to end the period, tying the game at 24-24. Milwaukee couldn’t keep the momentum rolling in the second quarter, as the team’s diminished depth due to injury showed. Chicago nearly doubled the Bucks score in the period, outscoring them 34-17. By halftime, the Bucks trailed by 16 points.
But the Bucks regrouped at the half. A Vaughn triple off an assist from Parker capped off a 7-0 run to start the third quarter, which cut the Bucks deficit to 57-48. Throughout the third quarter, the Bucks gradually ate away at the Bulls lead, and a couple of Parker free throws to close out the third quarter left Milwaukee behind just 79-73 with 12 minutes remaining in regulation.
The Bucks came close to taking the lead in the fourth quarter. Ennis dropped the Bulls lead to one when he converted on tough conventional three-point play off an assist from Giannis inside. Aaron Brooks answered with two points off the drive for Chicago, but O’Bryant came through with a clutch bucket off another Antetokounmpo dime, making it a one-point game again.
“That group we rode there from the third to the fourth, J.O.B. gave us some energy, some life. He played hard, and it was just contagious,” Jason said. “Giannis played hard from the jump ball, he had a good game. Jabari had a good game.”
The back-and-forth continued. E’Twaun Moore pushed the Chicago cushion briefly back to two, only to see yet another Giannis assist, this time to Miles Plumlee, cut it back down to one, 87-86. But for all of Milwaukee’s effort, they couldn’t rip the lead away from the desperate Bulls.
Jimmy Butler scored on two consecutive possessions with a dunk and driving layup to give the Bulls a 91-86 lead. Key conversions from Vaughn and Parker brought the deficit back down to two points three more times before the game was over, but the Bucks couldn’t get that key stop to get them over the hump in the narrow defeat.
“We had our chances there,” J-Kidd said. “It’s a one-point game and we had a turnover and a couple of shots that just didn’t fall for us. We had a lot of good looks, and they capitalized. They made shots when they had to.”
NEXT UP
The Bucks (32-45) host the Cleveland Cavaliers (55-22) for their fifth consecutive home game Tuesday. The Cavaliers have won three straight games, most recently defeating the Charlotte Hornets 112-103 Sunday.
Milwaukee is 1-2 against Cleveland this season. The Bucks won the teams’ first meeting this season, winning 108-105 in double overtime on Nov. 14 at home. Five days later, on Nov. 19, the Cavaliers responded with a 115-100 win in Cleveland. The Bucks lost again to the Cavaliers on March 23 113-104, again at the Cavs’ Quicken Loans Arena.
The game tips off at 7 p.m. CT on Fox Sports Wisconsin.
