Bucks trying to shake sluggish starts
Finishing strong has happened for the Milwaukee Bucks, a positive sign for a young team.
Starting fast? Not so much.
The Bucks were down, 16-2, against Orlando on Monday night before they woke up behind the energized play of forward Michael Beasley. They did regroup to grab a five-point halftime lead, but they trailed again entering the final quarter.
Milwaukee held the Magic to 15 points in the fourth quarter on the way to a 93-89 victory.
“Once we see the ball go in a couple times, it just opens up the floodgates for us,” Beasley said. “I just wish we would take it upon ourselves to stop starting so slow.
“I think we’ve proved once we get going, we’re pretty tough to stop. If we can just focus on the first 5 minutes of the game and setting the tone every night, and not adjusting to who we play, it will be a really good season for us.”
The Bucks (6-7) return to action Friday night for a holiday weekend home game against the Toronto Raptors (9-6), one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Milwaukee nearly pulled off an upset of Golden State last weekend when it rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit. And it came back from 24 down in the third quarter against Atlanta before losing, 107-100. But the Bucks buried themselves after being outscored, 31-9, by the Hawks in the second quarter.
Nothing was happening against Orlando until Beasley entered to pick up the pace.
“We could easily have panicked and folded the tent,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said of the awful start Monday. “You can probably expect a little letdown after the high of playing Golden State.”
Kidd took Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker out early, but both came back to have strong performances, including the first triple-double of the season by the Greek Freak.
“We’re looking for them to be consistent every night and that’s not fair, to be 21 years old,” Kidd said. “For them to both come out at the same time, I thought let’s see if Mirza (Teletovic) and Beasley can give us a jolt.
“We needed someone off the bench and Beasley delivered. Again, he’s been great for us all season and we need him to continue. There was no message really to be sent to those two; we just needed to make a change.”
The Bucks face a Toronto team that is concluding a five-game trip. The Raptors opened their trip with an overtime victory at Denver and lost at Sacramento on a controversial call when time was ruled to have run out just before Terrence Ross’ tying three-pointer.
But the clock still showed time remaining when Ross released his shot. The Raptors filed a formal protest with the league office.
Toronto lost to the Los Angeles Clippers before rebounding to beat Houston, 115-102, on Wednesday night. The Raptors’ defense limited the Rockets’ three-point shooting (14 of 42) and Houston committed 29 turnovers leading to 33 Toronto points. Rockets star James Harden had 12 turnovers.
“That’s the way we have to play,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said after the game. “We have to have a presentation like that each night; if not, this league is just too tough if you let people come out and be comfortable.”
New look: The Bucks will wear their alternate black uniforms with the deer on the front for Friday's game, and it will also be the first time this season the team will use its alternate court.
The "Fear the Deer" jerseys and alternate court made their debut last season.
Special delivery: Parker delivered turkey dinners to 150 Milwaukee-area families earlier this week as part of the Capuchin Community Services Food Box Program.
Parker also delivered the preregistered guest with vouchers for two tickets to Friday's game against the Raptors.