MILWAUKEE _ Jason Kidd thought a lot of it came down to hustle.
The Charlotte Hornets came out with some pressing defense and took it to the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA season opener for both teams on Wednesday night.
Even though Milwaukee made a brief fourth-quarter rally, it never could truly threaten the Hornets in a 107-96 loss before an announced sellout crowd at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
"The one thing that solves all that is if you play hard," Kidd said of the Hornets' effective interior scoring in the first half and 56 paint points in the game. "They played harder than we did. If you just look at the 50-50 balls, they got them all.
"We've got to win that battle to have any chance to win."
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 31 points, nine rebounds and five assists while playing 39 minutes, and he was efficient while sinking 13 of 21 shots.
"He accepted that pressure," Kidd said. "He did a very good job with (Nicolas) Batum on him all night. I thought he got to the paint and made plays for his teammates and also for himself.
"For Giannis, his growth is to understand they're going to try to wear him down. Understand he can get his breaks, but it can't be on the defensive end because we need him on the defensive end.
"Giannis was great tonight. We need that for the whole season. He was off the charts. He's got to get his teammates to join him."
The Hornets (1-0) never trailed as they sped to a 15-point halftime lead and kept up the pressure for most of the second half.
Kemba Walker opened the third quarter with an open 3-pointer as no Bucks player bothered to step out to the 3-point line. That shot gave the Hornets a 59-41 lead and quickly dampened any thoughts of a Bucks comeback.
Hornets coach Steve Clifford said before the game that forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was "ready to roll." Sidelined by shoulder injuries for most of last season, Kidd-Gilchrist was everywhere as he finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Walker added 17 points and Roy Hibbert, the Hornets' starting center after playing last year with the Los Angeles Lakers, had 15 points and five blocks. Marvin Williams had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Charlotte hit 7 of 23 3-pointers but that was much better than the Bucks' anemic showing of 3 of 16 from beyond the arc. The Hornets made 44.9 percent of their shots (40 of 80) to 42.4 percent for Milwaukee (39 of 92). But Charlotte had an edge at both the three-point line and the foul line.
"Anytime we made a run, they made a three," Kidd said.
A 3-pointer by Antetokounmpo and a dunk by Mirza Teletovic off an Antetokounmpo fast-break assist got the big crowd excited in the third quarter.
But Charlotte quickly regained control and ended the third quarter with an 83-66 lead.
Kidd went to a lineup featuring rookie Malcolm Brogdon, Michael Beasley, Antetokounmpo, Monroe and Jason Terry in the fourth quarter, and the team finally found a spark.
"We did a good job there," Antetokounmpo said of that stretch. "We moved the ball; we defended the ball. We rebounded and were able to run, and that's why we were able to come close in the game."
A Brogdon dunk off a Beasley steal cut the Bucks' deficit to 88-79, but Kidd-Gilchrist responded with a three-point play. The Bucks never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Center Greg Monroe came off the bench and finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes, and forward Jabari Parker had 13 points and six assists. But three early turnovers got him off his game and he also was in foul trouble.
"They definitely outplayed us," Parker said. "I was trying to get people involved. I've almost got to look for my shot first. I made a lot of turnovers because I was trying to pass (too much)."
