After losing their first three games to start the year, the Milwaukee Bucks have now won four straight games to improve to 4-3 after a 94-86 win over the Brooklyn Nets Saturday night.
After playing in New York against the Knicks the previous night, the Bucks needed to find some energy to give them a spark. Jerryd Bayless was that guy. Bayless was all over the place, and finished the game with 19 points and 10 assists off the bench.
“I’m just trying to make plays for the team. It’s not about me at all; it’s about everybody in this locker room. Everybody’s contributing, everybody’s coming, playing hard, and playing the right way. That’s the most encouraging part about it. If we continue doing that we’ll see what can happen,” said Bayless.
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Two of those players that contributed for the Bucks tonight was Greg Monroe and Khris Middleton. Monroe led the way for the Bucks with 20 points and 8 rebounds. Middleton added 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. Brook Lopez led the Nets with 20 points.
It wasn’t easy early on for the Bucks, however. The Bucks got off to a slow start early in the game after shooting only 33% from the field in the first quarter. Good thing for the Bucks, that didn’t last long.
“That first half was not very good basketball. I was watching a movie earlier, and I probably could have continued to watch that. It was tough. But we came out in the second half, that’s why we play two halves. Guys got into it and Bayless gave us a spark, we started making some shots, started rebounding the ball and pulled away,” said Bucks Coach Jason Kidd.
Bucks forward Jabari Parker played his season-high 24 minutes in his third game of the year. It was Parker who gave the offense some life after a rough first quarter with a reverse dunk and a mid-range jumper on back-to-back possessions early in the second quarter. Parker finished the game with 8 points on 4 of 7 shooting.
As part of a process working Parker back into the mix, Kidd liked what he saw saying, “We have been stretching it out. Tonight was the night that I wanted to see him play in the fourth quarter, to start that process. He had a great week. Being able to play back-to-back, and this was 24 minutes for him tonight, so we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
After playing 5 games in 7 days, Parker and the Bucks will get a couple days off. Next up for the Bucks is another home contest against the Celtics on Tuesday, Nov. 10, before heading to Denver for a back-to-back against the Nuggets on Nov. 11.