MILWAUKEE -- The difference in free throws between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Milwaukee Bucks stood out in the box score all night long, as the visitors hung around thanks to the discrepancy.
Memphis ended up outscoring Milwaukee, 31-8, from the foul line, but the game was decided with the Bucks at the line.
Brandon Knight drove to the hoop and converted a three-point play with 1.1 seconds on the clock to send Memphis to its first loss of the season, a 93-92 Bucks victory in front of 13,841 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
"We drew up a couple options," Knight said of Milwaukee's final play. "The main thing was looking for O.J. (Mayo) coming off the second side, misdirection with (Jared) Dudley coming off the first side. They did a great job of covering so from that point it just went to playing basketball.
"Just thinking about the game, I didn't want to settle. Two-point game, the main thing in my mind was just getting into the paint and seeing what my options were from there. Once I got there I had a layup and I took it and tried to finish it as strong as I could."
Following Knight's free throw, three timeouts were spent before Memphis ran the game's final play. Courtney Lee, who fouled Knight on the previous play, got a long but open look at a game-winning 3-pointer but missed.
The Bucks were in a close game late due to the stellar play of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the fourth quarter. Playing at power forward for most of the final quarter, Antetokounmpo engaged in an entertaining back-and-forth battle with the powerful Zach Randolph.
Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his career-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, attacking Randolph and Marc Gasol with his quickness to drive right past the big men for layups.
"He's a lot stronger than me, bigger than me, but it was a mismatch for me, too," Antetokounmpo said. "Knowing that it was a mismatch on the defensive end because he's bigger than me and I'm faster than him, I could drive the ball and make my move."
While Bucks coach Jason Kidd was certainly pleased with Antetokounmpo's offense in the fourth quarter, he liked the way the 19-year-old handled guarding a much stronger player in Randolph, who had to work for his six fourth-quarter points.
"You are talking about one of the best power forwards in the game," Kidd said. "'Z' is always going to make sure there is going to be some contact. Giannis at 220 pounds was outweighed, but he did a great job defensively.
"We played through Giannis. He didn't settle. He was getting the ball in the paint and was able to finish. You could see his growth coming along slowly . . . He had (Randolph) or Gasol on him and he wasn't letting them off the hook by shooting a jump shot."
Memphis entered Saturday night's game as one of three unbeaten teams in the NBA. The Grizzlies had beaten the Bucks seven consecutive times dating back to Mar. 28, 2010. But as they have in all seven games they've played this season, the Bucks hung around and had a chance to win late.
This time they converted.
"A very big step," Knight said. "This team is a very experienced team -- their record showed that -- and they came into the season clicking, playing well and still playing very well. We were able to protect home court. To be able to do it against a team like that, I think it's only going to help our confidence, and it shows us that we can make mistakes.
"We had less room for error against a Memphis team but we were still able to fight back and win. So if we can minimize our mistakes we can be a very good team -- even against the best teams in the league."
Despite facing five playoff teams from a year ago in its first seven games of the season, Milwaukee sits at 3-4. The young Bucks just completed a stretch of four games in five nights -- including three against 2013-14 playoff teams -- at 2-2.
For a franchise approaching this season as one to grow and build on for the future, the Bucks have showed many positive signs in the early going.
"I think you look at the week -- we went against a lot of playoff teams," Kidd said. "Chicago is probably the best in the East. Memphis was undefeated and probably one of the best in the West. To be able to compete, we're trying to play hard every night and put ourselves in position to win. We're learning late-game execution. Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it doesn't. That's just part of basketball. But tonight was another step forward."
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