After suffering through a difficult 15-67 season last year, Milwaukee Bucks fans got new owners, a new coach, some new players and a new mindset going into the 2014-15 season. One that is quickly paying dividends in the Cream City.

Jason Kidd’s squad dispatched of the Detroit Pistons, 98-86 on Tuesday night, moving the Bucks to 8-7—already more than halfway towards last year’s win total, and on pace to contend for one of the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference.

Following the win, Coach Kidd talked about the palpable vitality that his team has injected into the Fear the Deer Nation, and how his squad mirrors the Milwaukee community for which it plays.

“I think you can feel the energy,” Jason said. “You can see the crowd is building. Each time we play, if you can get one more person in those seats to come and support the Bucks, I think it is good. I think they like the way the guys are playing. When you talk about Milwaukee and the economics and going to work every day, well their team kind of resembles that—a young team that’s out there playing as a team. There’s not just one person you can focus on.”

Adam Silver in Milwaukee

In front of 15,265 fans at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, that team mentality was apparent in a Tuesday night victory, as five Bucks players finished with 12 or more points and 10 contributed to the scoring efforts. Even more importantly, the Bucks accomplished one of their top goals going into the game: controlling the boards.

With several talented frontcourt players dotting their roster—highlighted by Andre Drummond, Josh Smith and Greg Monroe—the Pistons are one of the NBA’s most dominant rebounding squads.

But after a difficult weekend in which they were destroyed on the boards by the Raptors and Wizards, Milwaukee set out to control that Pistons group on the glass Tuesday, and did just that, owning a 50-36 rebounding advantage.

“We talked about it for the last two days,” Coach Kidd said. “Detroit is a team that lives on the glass. We saw it when we played them at their place. Our objective tonight was to team rebound and have everybody pitch in — bigs and the littles. This is the way we have to rebound if we want a chance to win against a team like this”

Detroit Pistons v Milwaukee Bucks

Coming off the back-to-back losses, starting center Larry Sanders seemed to take that message to heart, as he came out, scored 10 points and pulled down five rebounds in the first quarter alone

“He was active on both ends,” Jason said of Sanders. “Defensively, he’s our anchor, and offensively, he was around the basket finishing play. Our guys were driving the ball, their bigs were stepping up and we were finding Larry and he was finishing.”

After trailing by five at the end of one, the Bucks came through with a fantastic defensive frame in the second, holding the Pistons to 41.7 percent shooting while forcing seven turnovers to take a 49-48 lead into halftime.

At the break, Coach Kidd called for some tweaks that set his squad up for big second-half success.

Early in the frame, the hustle from the young Milwaukee squad was shining through. Rookie Jabari Parker knocked away an errant D.J. Augustin pass and fellow 19-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo grabbed the loose ball and ran the floor. On the other end, he tossed it back to Parker, who finished with a big left-handed dunk over Smith.

The Bucks tallied nine steals, including two each from Antetokounmpo and Brandon Knight, and the squad combined to force 19 turnovers.

As J-Kidd said after the game, the young Bucks are beginning to mature and recognize how to take advantage of its takeaways.

“I think we’re learning time and score,” Jason said. “We’ve shot some where we get the offensive rebound and we fire one up in the third and fourth quarter instead of setting up another play and running some time off.”

The two teams stayed neck-and-neck early in the third, until Knight canned a three to break the tie for good and spark a 15-3 Milwaukee run. Augustin dropped a lay-up at the 3:47 mark, and the Pistons scored just one point from then on out in the third.

Detroit Pistons v Milwaukee Bucks

“They scored one point,” J-Kidd said. “For us as a young group, those are positive things for us to look at and learn from. They’re showing us coaches they can do it.”

Knight had five points during that run, while Ersan Ilyasova contributed seven. Knight ended up with a team-high 20 points—including 3-of-5 shooting from three—to go with eight assists, while Ilyasova led all bench players with 13 points and nine boards. It marked his fifth straight game in double figures, but that recent hot streak hasn’t come as a surprise to Jason.

“Ersan is settling in. He’s been around a couple coaches, different philosophies, a lot of different teammates, so for him it’s a feeling out process,” Kidd explained. “He’s playing at a high level for us off the bench and we need him to continue that.”

Detroit Pistons v Milwaukee Bucks

O.J. Mayo had another strong performance, shooting 3-of-4 from deep to total 17 points while in the starting lineup. Parker once again gave glimpses of his massive potential, tallying 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.

Their efforts in the third sent the Bucks to the fourth with a 79-67 advantage. As Coach Kidd mentioned, the young Milwaukee squad showed wisdom beyond its years, as it grinded the pace down as slow as possible and hit shots when needed in the fourth to walk away with a 12-point victory.

The Bucks nabbed nine offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter alone, two down the stretch by Sanders and Parker that led to immediate layups.

Detroit Pistons v Milwaukee Bucks

In addition to big nights from starters Knight, Mayo, Sanders and Parker, the bench came through big once again. Jason rotated through 11 players, and the six off the bench combined for 33 points, compared to just 20 from the Detroit reserves. Through 14 games, the Milwaukee bench is averaging 23.1 minutes per game, easily most in the NBA. That is also the most any bench has averaged since records dating back to 1997.

From the young starters all the way down the bench, Coach Kidd has been thrilled with the way his team has come together quickly.

“There’s a lot of lessons learned we’ve been through early in the season,” Jason said. “We were getting offensive rebounds and we weren’t forcing shots. We were being patient and that’s a sign of a good team.”

NEXT UP

The Bucks (8-7) have a quick turnaround, as they’ll make a short road trip to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves (3-9) Wednesday night.

That contest will be the second of a four-game, five-day stretch. Milwaukee went through that same gauntlet last week and came away with a 2-2 split while taking on the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs. This week, the four machups come against the Pistons, Wolves, the Pistons again and the Houston Rockets.

After facing a similar test last week, Jason believes his team is up for the challenge once again.

“We understand the importance of coming with energy and effort here on the road,” Jason said. “Minnesota is going to get after it. They play extremely well at home. They’re well coached. So for us, it’s being able to take care of the ball and execute and find a way to win on the road.”

Like Milwaukee, Minnesota boasts a young-but-talented roster. The Wolves are coming off back-to-back home losses to the Spurs and the Sacramento Kings. Last year’s Bucks squad dropped both of its meetings against Minnesota.

The two neighboring rivals are set for an 8 p.m. EST tipoff from the Target Center in Minneapolis. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Wisconsin and FSN+.

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