The Milwaukee Bucks finally got the best of the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday night, snapping a six-game Pelicans winning streak against the Bucks with 103-92 victory. Prior to tonight’s game, Milwaukee’s last win vs. New Orleans came in November of 2012.
The Bucks got off to a fast start in the first quarter, an area where they have been falling behind frequently this year. Milwaukee shot 58% in the frame, and maintained the lead for nearly the entire game.
“I thought we got off to a good start, normally we’ve gotten off to a slow start. I thought everybody played a great game and the starters were great,” said Bucks head coach Jason Kidd.
All five of the Bucks starters recorded 15+ points with Khris Middleton leading the way with 19. Middleton nearly had a triple-double to go along with his 19 points by adding 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Kidd said he could probably take blame for Middleton to not get the triple double by taking him out early as the game was out of hand.
“We shared the ball tonight. We got stops when we could and tried to push the pace. We were all sharing the ball and it was a good game for everybody,” said Middleton. “We had a great win here tonight, so we just want to keep this going.”
Anthony Davis scored a game-high 29 points to go along with 11 rebounds for the Pelicans. In seven career games against the Bucks, Davis is averaging 26.1 points per game, marking his highest scoring average against any opponent.
The Pelicans got within four points in the fourth quarter when the score was 83-79, but that was as close as they would get as he Bucks instantly went on a 10-2 run to grab the momentum for good.
I asked Davis what the Bucks did well down the stretch to pull away and he said, “Too many turnovers, especially towards the end. Me and Jrue (Holiday) had some miscommunication, it’s tough. They got a lot of points in transition, Khris made some tough shots. Everybody kind of started feeling it, and they all started playing well.”
The Bucks pulled away in the fourth quarter with the help of Jerryd Bayless hitting a couple key shots.
“He’s helped us win a lot of games. We missed him when he was hurt. Tonight he made a big three. I just like the way he is playing defensively, getting into Holiday and (Tony) Douglas tonight to set the tone,” said Kidd on Bayless. Bayless finished the night with 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
Tyler Ennis came off the bench in the second quarter to give the Bucks a spark. Ennis scored 8 of his season-high 10 points in his first three minutes off the bench.
Greg Monroe posted his 30th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
After Saturday night’s game, the Bucks travel to Brooklyn to face off against the Nets Sunday night. They will then return to the BMO Harris Bradley Center for two games against Toronto on Tuesday (3/15) and Memphis on Thursday (3/17).