When Jason Kidd came to Milwaukee, he knew that it would be an ongoing process for his young Bucks squad to reach its full potential, and in Game 32, his team took a major step forward.

Coach Kidd’s club found itself on the ropes late and needed a clutch layup from Brandon night with just 15 seconds left to force overtime. Then they poured on 21 points in the extra period to top the Charlotte Hornets, 104-94.

“You look at Game 1 and you look at Game 32, it showed some growth,” Jason said. “Overtime, we played through Giannis (Antetokounmpo). We ran one play and got a lot of different things off it. We’re a young team that has grown together, and you can see that.”

Milwaukee Bucks v Charlotte Hornets

It was another team effort for the Bucks, who were paced by Knight’s 18 points, but they had seven players tally eight or more points, including 17 points from Jared Dudley off the bench and 16 from Giannis Antetokounmpo off 7-of-8 shooting.

The Bucks saw leads evaporate in both previous losses to Charlotte this season, including a 108-106 overtime defeat to open the season, which saw Kemba Walker come through with some late-game heroics. On Monday night, it looked like Milwaukee was in in for a repeat performance, as Walker tallied 28 points and Gerald Henderson turned in 19 to erase a 21-point Bucks lead.

However, this time, thanks to Knight and Giannis, the Bucks held on.

“We had a big lead offensively, but defensively we started to slip a little bit,” Bucks coach J-Kidd said. “We got some great looks that just did not play out, but our guys just kept their composure.”

Behind a fantastic effort from Knight, Dudley, Antetokounmpo and Zaza Pachulia, the Bucks held a 49-32 lead at halftime and led by as many as 21 in the second quarter. However, in the third, the Bucks got sloppy, turning the ball over seven times, allowing the Hornets to cut the lead to seven for the fourth.

Milwaukee stretched the lead back to 11, 77-66, but was outscored 17-6 over the remainder of the game. Walker drove for a tough layup to give the Hornets an 83-81 lead with just inside a minute to go, but Knight answered back to tie it up and force OT.

Milwaukee Bucks v Charlotte Hornets

In that extra period, The Greek Freak led the way. Giannis set the tone right from the tip in the extra session, dropping a 15-footer to spark the late rout. He finished with five points in OT and also dished to Dudley on a trifecta to swell the lead to 11 with 1:20 to go.

Dudley and John Henson, who finished with 11, each had five points in OT, and the team went 7-of-8 over the final five minutes, also going 6-of-7 from the charity stripe to close out the victory.

After his team showed great poise in the victory, a reporter asked Kidd the difference between the opener and Game 32.

“Composure,” Coach Kidd said. “A group of young kids, new coaching staff, new players learning each other. Not panicking. They are believing they can find a way, and they found a way tonight.”

NEXT UP

The Bucks (16-16) travel to Cleveland for a New Year’s Eve bout with the Cavaliers (18-12).

LeBron James and company will face J-Kidd’s ball club for the second time this season after winning on Dec. 2 in Cleveland, 111-108.

“We learned last time, we had a good lead and were playing well, then they went to the zone and slowed us down, so we have to be ready for that,” Jason said of playing the Cavs for the second time. “If they’re shorthanded, we know Kyrie will have, and he’s as good as anyone in this league, so we have to be ready.”

The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. ET at Quicken Loans Arena.

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