After taking a tough loss to the top-seeded Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks came into Brooklyn last night in search of a win against a team that’s almost 20 games under .500. Milwaukee walked away from halftime with a 16-point lead, however, the Nets outscored the Bucks in both the third, and fourth quarter, making this game much more entertaining. Even though the Bucks pulled out a 115-108 road win, they won’t be celebrating much. On Sunday night, they will go back home to the Fiserv Forum Arena to play the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the Milwaukee Bucks lineup after a two-game absence. However, Khris Middleton got the night off after playing 33 minutes during the loss to the Celtics. It will be crucial for the Bucks team to stay healthy during the last few games of the regular season. With the win, the Bucks improves to 45-25. Brooklyn on the other hand drops to 26-44. Although the Nets have lost five games in a row, they’re just four games out from taking the tenth and final play-in spot.
Milwaukee Bucks Colorful Defense Halts Nets Run to Win 115-108
These two teams were pretty much toe to toe with each other for the first nine minutes of the game. During those final minutes of the first quarter, the Bucks went on a 14-7 run to give them a seven-point lead with three more quarters of action remaining. Brooklyn shot 33 percent from the field compared to Milwaukee’s 50 percent.
During the second quarter, Milwaukee truly started to bust this game wide open. With less than two minutes remaining in the half, the Bucks held a 20-point lead, and by the time the quarter finished, they held a 16-point lead. Although the Brooklyn Nets shot the ball well this quarter, they committed seven turnovers compared to the Bucks two. Also, Milwaukee had and made more three-point attempts, as the Bucks went eight for 15 while the Nets went just three for eight.
Going into halftime, Brook Lopez led all scorers with 15 points and went six for seven from the field and three for four from beyond the arc. Damian Lillard followed with 12 points, and Antetokounmpo scored 11 first-half points. Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Cam Thomas led the team with 12 points. Thomas was the only Net during the first half with double-digit points.
The Brooklyn Nets found a spark in the locker room. Many thought with the Bucks’ big halftime lead this game was already over, but the Nets found a way to keep this game interesting. At one point the Nets made this matchup a ten-point game, but the Bucks grabbed a 12-point lead with 12 minutes left to play. Milwaukee committed four turnovers during the third quarter, compared to Brooklyn who did not commit any. Both teams shot the ball horrendously during the third, but Brooklyn did shoot slightly better from the field, while Milwaukee shot a little better from three-point range.
During the fourth quarter, the Nets would cut the Bucks lead to just a one or two-possession game. The Nets would finally take their first lead since the first quarter when Cam Johnson pulled up for a three-pointer. These two teams battled, but with a little less than four and a half minutes to go, this game would be tied at 96. The Milwaukee Bucks went on a 19-12 run in those final minutes to close out the Brooklyn Nets and get another great home win.
By the end of it all, Damian Lillard ended up with a game-high 30 points, along with three rebounds, 12 assists, and two steals. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 21 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and two blocks in his first game back after a two-game absence. Brook Lopez scored 17 points on seven of nine shooting during the win. Mikal Bridges ended up leading the Nets with 24 points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Nic Claxton dropped 22 points, while pulling down nine rebounds, dishing out an assist, with two steals. Cam Thomas had 21 points during the loss.
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