Nets look to ‘Buck’ trend in Milwaukee
Fourth-quarter fades becoming a Brooklyn habit
Cam Johnson's sharp-shooting wasn't enough to get the Nets past Miami Monday. Brooklyn will try to upend the Bucks in Milwaukee Thursday. AP Photo by Heather Khalifa
After two days of festive cheer despite their ongoing slump, the Brooklyn Nets will be in Milwaukee Thursday night trying to prove they can finish strong.
“I don’t know if it’s fatigue, focus, whatever it may be, we just have to finish games,” said second-year Nets forward Noah Clowney, following yet another fourth-quarter fade in Monday night’s 110-95 defeat in Miami.
Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernández, who has regularly taken his team to task for lack of playing up to the organization “standard” during this 2-8 slide, was heartened by the Nets’ resolve against the Heat.
But he also pointed out that they didn’t have enough down the stretch to complete a comeback that saw them shave a 14-point deficit to two in the third quarter.
The Nets got outscored 27-17 over the final 12 minutes despite staying within five points entering the last period.
“I’m happy with some of the things that we’ve seen, but obviously not happy with losing.” said Fernández, who has watched almost helplessly as Brooklyn has suffered defeats of 10 or more points in six of its last eight losses.
Also, the Nets dropped a pair of those contests by at least 25, including a humbling 130-101 drubbing at the hand of the league-best Cleveland Cavaliers at Barclays Center on Dec. 16.
Brooklyn rebounded with a gritty win in Toronto last Thursday, but was humbled by Utah, one of the league’s worst units, Saturday on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.
Fernández accentuated the positive in Miami, even after the Nets shot a dismal 38% from the field, yielded 23 points off turnovers and didn’t manage to get to the free-throw line once in the entire third quarter while the Heat bullied their way to the bucket at will.
“The way we fought and competed it was a positive,” he said. “I want to think positive. I want to see guys growing. Shooting 38 percent from the field is not good enough … You just gotta believe in the process.”
Clowney and veteran forward Cam Johnson were both bright spots in the loss, pouring in 19 points apiece on 13-of-28 shooting, including a combined seven 3-pointers.
Forced into a starting role due to the ongoing absences of injured regulars like leading scorer Cam Thomas (hamstring), forward Ziaire Williams (knee) and power forward Dorian Finney-Smith (calf), Clowney refused to make excuses for Brooklyn’s latest fourth-quarter meltdown.
“Be confident, play hard and live with the results,” he said of turning the page to Milwaukee.
Unfortunately for the Nets (11-18), they’ll show up at Fiserv Forum Thursday to face one of the league’s hottest teams.
Spearheaded by former NBA Most Valuable Player and Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee (16-12) has won 13 of 16 following a brutal 4-9 start to the campaign.
That opening stretch included a 115-102 loss at Barclays on Oct. 27 despite 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists from the “Greek Freak”.
Thomas scored 32 points and the recently traded Dennis Schröder added 29 that night to give Fernández his first career win as an NBA head coach.
The Bucks certainly looked different when they arrived in Brooklyn on Dec. 8, even though the Nets snapped Milwaukee’s streak of holding 15 straight opponents below 50% shooting.
Antetokounmpo piled up 34 points and 11 rebounds as the Bucks snapped a two-game skid, their only consecutive losses since early November.
Johnson kept the Nets in the contest until deep in the fourth quarter by putting up 26 points and is averaging a career-best 19.1 points per game this year.
That may only make him more attractive to potential trade suitors if the Nets continue to slip further out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Milwaukee, which captured the NBA Cup with a 97-81 with a 97-81 triumph over Oklahoma City last week, isn’t thinking rebuild. It’s starting to prove it can seriously vie for its first NBA title since 2021.
“We’re getting better … We know we’re leaving Vegas as a better team. I’m so proud of this group. Man, I’m so proud of this group,” Antetokounmpo gushed after lifting the Cup on Dec. 17.
The Bucks did suffer a 23-point defeat in Cleveland three nights later, but have since rebounded with a pair of wins, including Monday’s 112-91 victory in Chicago.
With Antetokounmpo out due to back spasms for the second straight game and point guard Damian Lillard sidelined due to illness, Khris Middleton and former Net center Brook Lopez picked up the slack with 21 points apiece.
Both Antetokounmpo and Lillard are listed a questionable for Thursday while the Nets have already ruled out Thomas returning to the hardwood for the first time since Nov. 25.
Finney-Smith and Williams have both been upgraded to questionable for Brooklyn, which is trying to avoid its fourth three-game losing streak of the season.
As Fernandez wistfully noted in Miami Monday before Brooklyn’s brief holiday break, “I’m happy with some of the things that we’ve seen, but obviously not happy with losing.”
“We have to go on and think about the next one.”
The “next one” tips off at 8 p.m. Thursday.
NOTHING BUT NET: In a stretch of eight games with only two in Brooklyn, the Nets will make a quick return to Barclays on Friday to host San Antonio (15-14). The Nets have lost their last three visits to Fiserv Forum, dating to a 126-123 win in Milwaukee on Feb. 26, 2022, behind 38 points from Kyrie Irving. That was the season after Brooklyn lost all three games in Milwaukee in the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, which the Bucks took in an overtime thriller Game 7 at Barclays.
Leave a Comment
Related Articles
Banning cellphones in schools gains popularity in red and blue states
Gov. Hochul pitches discovery reform changes
Our world in photos: January 17
Leave a Comment