The Milwaukee Bucks meandered through much of Friday night's game against the Charlotte Hornets, facing an uphill battle as they struggled to play with any consistency at either end.
It took kicking into gear at the right time and a little luck in the form of Charlotte's second unfortunate injury of the night, but the Bucks held home court in the opening game of a home-and-home, back-to-back series against the Hornets with a 109-104 victory in front of 17,018 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
“It’s big for us," Giannis Antetokounmpo said. "We didn’t start the game well. I think we were being kind of lazy, but I think we did a great job fighting through and playing hard at the end and doing whatever it takes to get a win tonight.”
The Bucks didn't have an answer for Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker throughout the night Friday. With just under 2 1/2 minutes left, Walker reached 32 points on a layup that put the Hornets up by four.
That was his last bucket of the game, though it wasn't necessarily because of anything the Bucks did.
Less than a minute after that layup, Walker went out with an injury and things changed drastically. His apparent injury occurred on a play following a dunk by Antetokounmpo around the two-minute mark. Walker pushed ahead and lost control of the ball, going to the ground in the process.
“This was a tough game," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "A lot of emotions in that last game we played. Charlotte’s playing extremely well and hard … and they were right there. We found ways down the stretch to make plays at both ends.”
Earlier in the fourth quarter, he'd subbed out and gone to his hands and knees in obvious pain in front of the bench. That's also the position he was in as Bledsoe made the steal and the Bucks went the other way, with Antetokounmpo taking advantage of the 5-on-4 by hitting Khris Middleton for a wide-open dunk.
BOX SCORE: Bucks 109, Hornets 104
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Charlotte interim head coach Stephen Silas then called timeout and Walker never returned, joining center Dwight Howard on the bench after Howard suffered a dislocated left ring finger in the first quarter and never returned.
“That’s tough for them," Middleton said. "He’s their leader, he’s their fourth-quarter player and late-game player who makes big shots and big plays for them. We got a little lucky with him going out. … We did a great job taking advantage of it, but hopefully we won’t be in that position tomorrow.”
The Bucks closed out the victory from there with stifling defense and relentless attacks on the rim. Knowing the Hornets didn't have any rim protectors with Howard out, Bledsoe deposited a tough layup and Antetkounmpo battled to the hoop to put Milwaukee up four before Bledsoe added a free throw to bring the game to its final margin.
Defensively, Antetokounmpo picked up a steal, Bledsoe flew in to block a dunk attempt by Jeremy Lamb and the Hornets missed their final four shots.
Middleton led the Bucks with 28 points, Antetokounmpo added 26 and Bledsoe had 24 to go with 10 assists. With Friday's win, the Bucks are now 5-0 when all three of those players top 20 points.
The Bucks rode those three in the first quarter, each taking his turn to shine. Antetokounmpo and Bledsoe each had seven points in the first five minutes before Middleton shook loose midway through the period with five straight points. By the end of the quarter, the three had combined for 24 of Milwaukee's 26 points while each getting a turn on the bench as the Bucks took a three-point lead into the second.
As the Bucks went to their bench more in the following period, their lead became more tenuous. Milwaukee held its own against Charlotte's bench unit, which included familiar faces Michael Carter-Williams and Frank Kaminsky, not to mention Johnny O'Bryant, who would have been in that group had Howard not been injured.
But things changed in a hurry when Walker returned to the game.
Over the four-plus minutes Walker logged in the second quarter, the Hornets exploded for an 18-7 run to build a 10-point lead. Walker was at the head of the charge, scoring 10 of his 20 first-half points while making three shots in a row during that span as the Hornets went on to own a 59-52 advantage at halftime.
“It was tough," Middleton said. "It wasn’t easy at all. They played a great game, they played hard, they executed their stuff. They had us in the red for most of that game, especially in the first half. Just came out in the second and tried to put more into the game. We didn’t want to mess around with them knowing we had to play them again tomorrow. We tried to give it our all and it worked out for us in the end.”
The teams traded runs out of the half with the Hornets leading by as many as 12. With 5:50 left in the third and the Bucks down 11, Kidd turned to his lineup with Antetokounmpo at center, inserting Sean Kilpatrick for the first time.
That lineup worked wonders, with Kilpatrick and Malcolm Brogdon each immediately making three-pointers as the Bucks used a 12-0 run to take the lead.
“He gave us the spark," Kidd said of Kilpatrick, who had five points and made his first two shots. "I think the first time he touched it he knocked down that corner three and that got the guys motivated and I thought he got the fans into the game. Just understanding he can play, Sean can play.”
Kidd then opened the fourth quarter with Middleton at center, matching the Hornets' small lineup with O'Bryant in the middle. That Bucks group held its own before a five-point flurry from the Hornets put Charlotte up by six with 7 1/2 minutes to go.
"I hope we never have to use it again. We were just trying to find a way to get a spark," Kidd said. "Khris isn't a 5. You play your best players in a situation and we were trying, again, to get Giannis' minutes down. Understanding they were small, we felt that we just needed to figure out how to get a spark and that group did."
After that, the Bucks went to a more traditional lineup with Antetokounmpo back in the game and Thon Maker in the middle, and that group brought the win home. It took picking up the pace, locking in on defense and some injury luck, but they got the job done heading into Saturday's rematch in Charlotte.
“This was a tough game," Kidd said. "A lot of emotions in that last game we played. Charlotte’s playing extremely well and hard … and they were right there. We found ways down the stretch to make plays at both ends.”
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
Kidd reacts to nomination: On Thursday, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the nominations for its 2018 class. Kidd was included among them, marking his first year on the ballot.
Kidd played 19 NBA seasons, averaging 12.6 points, 8.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. He was a 10-time all-star, a nine-time all-defensive team member and a five-time first team all-NBA selection. He's also ranked second all-time in assists and steals and won a pair of Olympic gold medals with Team USA.
"It's a great compliment to be recognized for doing something OK in the NBA," Kidd said. "As a kid, you're just worried about learning how to win and trying to be the best. As you get older, you try to win championships and you find out really quick that there are other guys in this league that are really good. So, to be recognized is a great honor for my teammates, the teams, the owners that I've had the opportunity to play for. We'll see what happens."
UP NEXT
Teams: Milwaukee Bucks (17-13) vs. Charlotte Hornets (11-21).
When: 6 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Spectrum Center.
About the Hornets: They're the team the Bucks played Friday night. Same teams, different venue for Saturday's contest in Charlotte. The statuses of Howard, who said that his finger kept popping out, and Walker, whose injury was not disclosed after the game, will not be updated until Saturday.