Bucks 110, Grizzlies 103: Defense comes through in second half

Defense has not been the strong suit of the Milwaukee Bucks this season. That's something the team is intent on changing.

In the second half of Monday night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Bucks brought the intensity they exhibited in their wins on Friday and Saturday night to claim a third successive victory, 110-103, at the Bradley Center in front of an engaged crowd of 13,244.

While tough defense is item No. 1 in the Bucks' game plan, it took a half for it to actually show.

The Grizzlies, buoyed by a 36-point second quarter in which they made 10 of their first 11 shots, got 24 points off the bench from three players and weren't stopped on back-to-back possessions until there were 3 minutes, 26 seconds left, took a 65-60 lead into halftime as neither team asserted much of anything positive on the defensive end.

"In the first half it was a shootaround like this morning where we were just going through the motions and both teams were just going to play buddy ball and score," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "The last two games we've hung our hat on the defensive end and I thought in the second half we focused on the defensive end and a lot of good things happened."

Fresh off that second quarter, Milwaukee turned up the intensity on the defensive end in a major way.

BOX SCORE: Bucks 110, Grizzlies 103

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The easy looks the Grizzlies had been accustomed to weren't there. Instead, there were defenders at every turn. Eric Bledsoe cut off drives, DeAndre Liggins hustled from end to end, taking multiple charges and the Bucks moved together to contest just about every shot.

"They was running, I think, one play in the first half that was working," Bledsoe said. "We just had to stop that play and make them go to another option. Once we did that we just started getting rebounds and getting out in transition."

Memphis went just 5 of 18 from the field in that third quarter, going without a field goal for nearly 4 1/2 minutes toward the end of the period. Milwaukee converted its defense into offense, turning a five-point halftime deficit into a seven-point lead by the end of the third.

Then the dam broke again.

Tyreke Evans went off in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of his team-high 27 points to put Memphis up by five and flip the game yet again. That's when Kidd called timeout and turned to his starting unit. They didn't let him down.

"We knew what we had to do when we went back in," Bledsoe said. "We knew it was going to be a grind-it-out game playing against a great, tough Memphis team. We just had to lock in and make plays."

Milwaukee strung stops together and went on an 11-2 run out of the timeout, taking the lead for good. On the offensive end, that run was defined by everyone pitching in, not just Giannis Antetokounmpo taking over.

Khris Middleton hit a jumper. John Henson made a nifty interior pass to Antetokounmpo for a dunk. Antetokounmpo kicked out from the paint to Tony Snell for a corner three. Antetokounmpo used all of his length to softly direct an alley-oop into the hoop.

Then Bledsoe, who handled initiating the offense down the stretch, blazed across the court for a layup to put the Bucks up 100-96. Kidd had been looking to call timeout on that play but Bledsoe was too fast, with Memphis coach David Fizdale instead asking for time after the bucket.

Memphis went just 3 of 14 over the final 7:39 of the game as the Bucks ground out the victory.

Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 27 points, adding nine rebounds and six assists. Khris Middleton and John Henson each added 17, with that number representing a season-high for the Bucks center. Bledsoe added 15 and Malcolm Brogdon had 10 off the bench, though he was limited to 19 1/2 minutes due to foul trouble.

"We can count on and look and watch Giannis, but we need everybody to participate on the offensive end and I thought he did a great job of finding guys," Kidd said.

And when it comes to the defense, Kidd is beginning to see the fruits of a new mentality that came with last week's trade.

"Our growth started down in Texas once we got Bledsoe," he said. "Guys started to focus more on the defensive end and that's kind of our M.O."

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

Making it rain: The Bucks hit 12 of 22 three-pointers, marking the third time they have shot over 50% on three-pointers this season. Six of those three-pointers came in the first quarter as the Bucks went perfect from beyond the arc with Middleton making all three of his attempts, Brogdon making two and Bledsoe adding a triple.

The Bucks are 2-1 when making 50% or more of their three-pointers in a game this season.

Feeling good: The Bucks entered the night not sure if Bledsoe would play because of a right knee contusion. Kidd let the drama build during his pregame press conference, stating only that Bledsoe was a game-time decision.

Bledsoe ended up logging 26 1/2 minutes and playing a pivotal role at the end.

"Any time you get a win you don't feeling nothing," Bledsoe said, saying his legs felt good. "I'm happy about that."

UP NEXT

Teams: Detroit Pistons (10-3) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (7-6).

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Where: BMO Harris Bradley Center.

About the Pistons: Detroit's comfortable 105-96 win over the Milwaukee at Little Caesars Arena on Nov. 3 marked the beginning of a five-game win streak the Pistons will try to continue when they make their first visit to Bradley Center on Wednesday night. Tobias Harris is leading the Pistons with 20.1 points per game and Avery Bradley, acquired from the Boston Celtics during the off-season, is backing him up with 17.0 points per contest. But undoubtedly, the most important player on the Pistons is center Andre Drummond, who is averaging 13.7 points and a league-leading 15.6 rebounds per game.Drummond has become one of the top defensive players in the league, leading the NBA in defensive box plus/minus. Drummond has been able to be more productive because he can stay on the court. In years past he was subbed out because of his sub-40% career free-throw shooting, but this season he's been a 63.2% shooter.