Bucks take down Nets in 3-OT
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Jabari Parker scored a career-high 23 points and the Milwaukee Bucks outlasted the Brooklyn Nets 122-118 in a triple overtime thriller at Barclays Center.
O.J. Mayo added 21 points off the bench while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brandon Knight netted 18 apiece to help the Bucks win for the fifth time in six tries. The win also marked head coach Jason Kidd's first against the Nets, who he coached to the second round of the playoffs last season before being acquired by Milwaukee for two second-round draft picks over the summer.
"I know he wanted it bad, but I think the players wanted it more than he did," Mayo said about Kidd. "For him to come to Milwaukee and give us hope. We're a good young team and we wanted it for him."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brook Lopez broke a 93-93 tie with a short jumper late in regulation, but Mayo countered with a transition layup with 30 seconds left. Kevin Garnett and Mayo missed potential game-winners at the end of regulation.
It was tied late in overtime when Knight intercepted a Joe Johnson pass with 2.9 seconds to go and raced down the court. With Mirza Teletovic tracking him, Knight sprinted to the basket and got there in time to beat the buzzer, but his layup had too much on it and bounced off the rim.
Knight, who shot just 5-for-20, made up for the missed layup by potting a triple out of a timeout at 19.6 of double OT, tying the game at 112. Johnson hit nothing but air on an off-balance jumper from the free throw line as the buzzer went off.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Milwaukee led by five late in the third overtime when Deron Williams gave Brooklyn life with a 3. With 15.5 seconds left, Ersan Ilyasova was called for a five-second violation, giving the Nets one last look, but Johnson missed a baseline jumper and Ilyasova hustled down the rebound. Knight made two free throws at the other end to seal the outcome.
Lopez scored a game-high 26 points but turned it over seven times, as Brooklyn's losing streak extended to five games. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points, while Johnson and Williams both dropped 18.
"Anytime you go into this many overtimes and come away with a loss, it's tough," said Williams. "You play so hard, you fight. You play good in stretches but just come up short. It's a lot of minutes to be playing in a loss."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Antetokounmpo made two free throws 4 1/2 minutes into the second quarter to tie the game at 32. The hosts then dominated the rest of the stanza.
Williams and Jarrett Jack combined to score all nine points during a 9-2 push. After Khris Middleton ended the run out of a timeout, Jerome Jordan got a tip to go, Garnett made two at the stripe and Jack hit a jumper to give Brooklyn its biggest lead, 47-36.
Milwaukee scored five of the final seven points in the period, but Brooklyn still led 49-41.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Bucks trimmed the gap with a strong third quarter and pulled ahead early in the fourth after Ilyasova rattled off four straight to put the Bucks in front.
Neither team led by more than four in a back-and-forth fourth quarter.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}There were 17 lead changes and 14 ties ... The Nets had won five straight in the series ... Antetokounmpo had 12 rebounds and Knight had eight assists for Milwaukee.