Jason Kidd A Winner In Brooklyn Return As Milwaukee Bucks Work 3OT
By Phil Watson
It was the best of Knight. It was the worst of Knight.
Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Knight had a chance to end Wednesday night’s tension-packed battle against the Brooklyn Nets at the end of the first overtime after picking off a pass from Joe Johnson and streaking down court as time was expiring.
118. 147. 122. 89. Final
And he clanked the layup, sending the game to a second OT.
At the end of that five-minute session, with the Bucks trailing 112-109, Knight drained a 3-pointer with 19.6 seconds left to tie it up and help send the game to yet another overtime.
The Bucks took control from there, never trailing in the final overtime period en route to a 122-118 win in coach Jason Kidd’s much-ballyhooed return to Brooklyn, where he coached last season before being traded to the Bucks over the summer after reportedly being rebuffed in an effort to seek more power within the organization.
Ersan Ilyasova opened the third overtime with back-to-back buckets and after the Nets drew toi within one, it was Khris Middleton’s turn to score on consecutive possessions to give Milwaukee (7-5) a 120-115 lead.
It completed a home-and-home Gotham sweep for the Bucks, who beat the New York Knicks at home on Tuesday. And it continued a shocking early-season turnaround for Milwaukee—the worst team in the NBA last season at 15-67.
The Bucks have won three straight—the first time they’ve done that since winning four in a row from Feb. 26-March 4, 2013. They’ve won five of their last six games overall and are 3-4 on the road after winning only five games away from Milwaukee all of last season.
And, just because it continues to be fun, the Bucks didn’t win their seventh game last season until New Year’s Eve—a 94-79 win over the Lakers in Los Angeles to improve to 7-24.
It was Milwaukee’s longest game since a 155-154 win over the Seattle SuperSonics that took five overtimes on Nov. 9, 1989.
As for Kidd, he was booed loudly during introductions and he spoke before the game Wednesday about his nasty divorce from the Nets.
Kidd referred to reports—refuted by the Nets—that the Nets wanted to fire him last December.
"“I think it really helped me to see what I was dealing with, what type of people I was dealing with,” Kidd said, via ESPN New York. “To give me a fair chance to coach a team that had injuries, we make a big trade—but understanding that they did want to fire me in December, so I think it just shows what type of people I was dealing with.”"
Nov 19, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Joe Johnson (7) and forward Kevin Garnett (2) and guard Bojan Bogdanovic (44) defend against Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) during first half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
As for the Bucks, the teenagers came through big. Second overall pick Jabari Parker scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Bucks, hitting 8-of-13 from the floor, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, last year’s first-round selection, scored 18 points to go with 12 rebounds and three steals.
It was the first time in NBA history that a team had two teenagers (both are 19) score 15 points or more in the same game.
The Bucks forced overtime on O.J. Mayo’s layup with 30.4 seconds left in regulation. Kevin Garnett missed a 3-pointer late in the shot clock for Brooklyn and Mayo had a short jumper at the buzzer that could have won it for Milwaukee, but was off-target.
Mayo finished with 21 points off the bench. Knight had 18 despite a tough shooting night (5-for-20 and 2-for-10 from 3-point range) and also had eight assists. Ilyasova had his second strong game in a row, scoring 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting and notching three steals.
Larry Sanders was back in the starting lineup after sitting out against the Knicks because of a left thigh contusion, but had only four points and four rebounds in 14 minutes. John Henson, who got 19 minutes, finished with eight points and blocked three shots.
Brook Lopez led the Nets (4-7), who lost their fifth in a row, with 26 points and also had three blocks. Rookie Bojan Bogdanovic had 19 points, Johnson and Deron Williams each had 18 points, with Johnson dishing eight assists and Williams handing out seven. Mirza Teletovic had 14 points and two blocks off the bench and Jarrett Jack notched 14 points and nine rebounds. Garnett also had nine boards but scored just four points.
The veteran Nets turned the ball over 22 times, leading to 25 points for Milwaukee, while the young Bucks had just 15 giveaways that resulted in eight Brooklyn points.
Milwaukee has a night off before going to Toronto to take on the Eastern Conference-leading Raptors, who improved to 9-2 with a 96-92 win over Memphis on Wednesday. Tipoff at the Air Canada Centre is 6:30 p.m. Central.