It was a tough defensive battle Friday night against the Utah Jazz, but Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks came up just short.
Milwaukee had the upper hand in the first half and the game remained close throughout. But in the waning minutes, the Jazz took control and executed on their home floor to steal an 84-81 victory.
The Bucks trailed by six with 30 seconds to go when Khris Middleton canned a three-pointer to give them life. He then came through with a key steal and tried to tie the game with a triple on the other end, but the shot that could’ve forced overtime was off its mark with 2.9 to go. Trailing by three, Jason had no regrets about the way his team played to win late.
“Everybody who participated put us in a position to tie or win the ball game. And, we just came up short,” Jason said afterward. “That’s something for us, as a whole, to learn from. We could easily take the two and play the free-throw game, but we were looking for the tie. Khris, one of our best shooters, took the shot and we just came up empty.”
While Milwaukee came up short of a big road victory in a defensive battle, Jason’s crew showed several signs of promise—particularly through its bench play. Jerryd Bayless knocked down five three-pointers for 15 points, all in the first half. Then Miles Plumlee and Johnny O’Bryant combined for eight points, six rebounds, three blocks and a steal.
Altogether, the embattled Bucks bench outscored the Jazz reserves 23-9. Jason has been searching from a spark from his second unit of late, and he was proud of what they brought to Salt Lake City.
“The bench, I thought everybody played their part,” he said. “Ennis, Vaughn, Miles. I thought he did a really good job for us blocking shots, giving us some second opportunities. I thought he played a really good game until he got tossed. Bayless was big for our bench. He outscored their whole bench. We got a spark there. We’ve got to do a little bit better coming down the stretch of the game.”
The hot shooting from Bayless, and the team’s tenacious defensive effort, had Milwaukee out in front throughout much of the first half. JB had six points in the first quarter and another nine in the second as the Bucks took a 44-40 advantage into the locker room.
The Jazz defense started to create problems in the third quarter. Milwaukee coughed up seven turnovers, but still led until the final minute of the period. Gordon Hayward dropped in the go-ahead bucket with 1:06 left in the third, and Utah took a 61-60 lead to the final quarter.
The lead changed hands seven times in the final frame, but Utah took control in the final few minutes of the contest behind several big buckets from Hayward. The lead reached eight with 51.7 seconds to go, but the Bucks kept fighting. Middleton made three free throws and splashed a three to bring them within striking distance—but he missed that final key shot that would’ve extended the game.
Even in defeat, Jason was proud of the way his team battled on the road.
“We got what we wanted there late. Understand we got the trap, we got the steal and now we’ve got to execute on the other end,” J-Kidd told the media. “I always trust my guys. Khris took the shot he felt that he could make. The guys kept playing to the end.”
Middleton led the Bucks with 18 points. Center Greg Monroe was one rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine boards. Small forward Giannis Antetokounmpo added 14. Point guard Michael Carter-Williams also had a solid night running the offense, tallying 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
NEXT UP
The Bucks have two contests remaining until the All-Star break: Tuesday night against the Boston Celtics and Thursday night against the Washington Wizards—both at home.
Both games are set for 8 p.m. ET tipoffs.
