Taylor Jenkins gets his first Bucks win and says ‘this isn’t about me’ as Milwaukee holds Indiana to 17 in the fourth

Taylor Jenkins finally has his first win as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, and he did not want to talk about himself. Down 61-50 at halftime on Monday night, Milwaukee outscored the Indiana Pacers 60-41 after the break and won 110-102 at Fiserv Forum to move to 1-3. The Bucks held Indiana to 17 points in the fourth quarter after letting late leads slip away in their first three games.

“This isn’t about me. This is about the organization. This is about the team. It’s about my coaching staff,” Jenkins said. “It’s about those players in there that, despite three tough starts to the season, they came out at home, even down, and found a way to grind it out. I thought we just clawed our way on both sides of the floor.”

He said the first three losses had a common thread. “We’ve been in games in the fourth quarter and it’s slipped away, for various reasons, fault of mine,” Jenkins said. “It’s trying to get these guys committed for the full 48, and these guys respond, which is awesome to see.”

‘Owning the pace and owning the paint’

Jenkins said the plan against Indiana’s fast offense was to “own the pace and own the paint,” and that the Bucks did it far better in the second half. Indiana scored 32 points in the second quarter and just 24 and 17 in the last two. “I thought they were getting downhill a little bit too easily in the first half,” he said. “I thought we did a much better job keeping them in front. We started switching a little bit more and not letting them just turn the corner on us.”

The Pacers still grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, and Jenkins pointed out that they turned them into only eight second-chance points. Indiana shot 13-of-48 from 3, and he credited his players for getting out to shooters late. “Our ability to fly out there and just get even a late contest, and not an open one, and then secure the rebound more often than not,” he said. Milwaukee won the boards 61-48.

The Pacers cut a nine-point lead to 101-98 with 3:54 left as Pascal Siakam scored six straight points. After a Ryan Rollins free throw, Kasparas Jakučionis hit a 3 off a Myles Turner pass, and Kyle Kuzma hit another from the corner after Tyler Herro found him to make it 108-100 with 1:53 to go. “That’s the energy we want to be playing with,” Jenkins said, “just continuing to be relentless.”

Turner’s four blocks and a ‘drill sergeant’

Turner scored six points on 2-of-7 shooting, his third straight game under 10, but had 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks and a game-high plus-14. Jenkins said the shots will come. “He’s a playmaker for us,” he said. “His impact on the defensive side, when we talk about prioritizing the paint, plus-14, multiple blocked shots.” He added that Turner is “applying what we do in practice the very next day.”

Turner said offense is “not the only thing I do” and that defense has “always been who I am.” He also said the group is buying into its new coach. “He holds everybody to the same standard no matter who the player is,” Turner said. “He came in here and has really been a drill sergeant. He’s been a fun drill sergeant, to say the least.” He said getting Jenkins his first win in Milwaukee “was something special.”

Kel’el Ware had 16 points and 14 rebounds off the bench. Jenkins said he loved how Ware ran the floor and called closing time between his two centers “a tough call” when both are playing well.

Ament’s first 3 and Herro’s hometown week

Rookie Nate Ament scored seven points in 14 minutes, all after halftime, including his first NBA 3-pointer, which tied the game at 82 late in the third quarter, and his first dunk. Milwaukee was plus-12 with him on the floor. Jenkins praised his willingness “to put his body out there, fight for post position on defense,” and said Ament “shot that big one confidently.” Turner said he liked that Ament kept a “steady confidence” while guarding Siakam.

Ament said Jenkins wanted the win “so bad” that “you can hear him screaming on the sidelines, screaming out coverages.” Fellow rookie Brayden Burries added four points, and Jenkins also singled out Ryan Rollins, who scored 19 and drew the main defensive job on Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton finished with 22 points and 9 assists, and Siakam had 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Herro led Milwaukee with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists and blocked a 3-point attempt in the final seconds. He said the Bucks took their defense from the loss in Philadelphia into this game. “It starts on the defensive end, being in our shifts, helping each other, covering for each other,” he said. Herro grew up in Milwaukee, and he called it “surreal” to be in his first season with his hometown team while the Brewers are one win from a World Series title.

Milwaukee hosts the 4-0 Houston Rockets on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT, which is 3 a.m. Thursday in Cairo.