Kyrie Irving held to 17 points, Spencer Dinwiddie gets 11, and Caris LeVert scores just six points; but rookie Nicolas Claxton shows promise with 14 points

Last night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the 18-22 Brooklyn Nets met up with the 37-6 Milwaukee Bucks, a team that is clearly on a mission to represent the NBA Eastern Conference in the 2020 NBA Finals and it wasn’t pretty. The Nets fell to 18-23 with their 117-97 loss to the Bucks last night, while the Bucks improved to 38-6 on the season with the victory.

How the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Brooklyn Nets by the numbers:

In terms of metrics, the Brooklyn Nets shined at the free-throw line. Brooklyn shot a season-high-tying .941 (16-of-17) from the free-throw line, which was previously done against the Phoenix Suns on November 10, 2019, at Phoenix (also 16-of-17 FT). The Nets also edged Milwaukee 18-13 in fast breakpoints.

However, Milwaukee shot .500 (45-of-90 FG) from the field last night compared to Brooklyn’s .333 (33 of 99 FG) from the field. From behind the arc, the Bucks outpaced the Nets 45.9 percent (17-of-37) to 30.6 percent (15-of-49), and of course, the Bucks’ 117 points overall to the Nets’ 97 points sealed the winning deal.

Milwaukee Bucks Leading Scorers

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo registered a game-high 29 points, 12 rebounds, along with four assists in 25 minutes. Khris Middleton added 20 points, four assists, four rebounds, and three steals in 29 minutes; Brook Lopez scored 12 points, seven rebounds, five blocked shots, and four assists in 26 minutes; Wesley Matthews accumulated 11 points and three assists in 27 minutes; Donte DiVincenzo came off the bench and also posted 11 points, with sides of six rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes, and; Kyle Korver chipped in 10 points in 17 minutes off the bench.

Coach Speak: Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer on the Bucks’ defense

“Brooklyn is a team that drives it a ton, like everybody in the league, a lot of pick-and-rolls too,” said Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer. “I thought the discipline in just getting over screens, playing without fouling, making them uncomfortable, making them hopefully get to spots that they don’t want to be in. Brook Lopez is always good in the paint. Giannis (Antetokounmpo) was good in the paint.”

Coach Speak: Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson on what was the most difficult part about playing the Milwaukee Bucks

“I thought our defense was actually decent,” responded Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “I’m not saying it was great or outstanding. I thought we fought defensively and offensively, obviously didn’t make shots. They’re the number one rim protection team in the league and I don’t know – I feel like, yes, we attacked the rim, but we also have to figure out how – against a great rim protecting team – maybe just make that extra pass, those extra two passes. I thought they were going against a wall, especially in the first half. I thought the second half we moved it a little better. I thought there were a ton of open threes. We knew we were going to get the threes, it didn’t go down, that makes it look worse. But credit to Milwaukee. I think they are playing as good as anybody I’ve seen in a while in this league. So just have to give them credit, give Bud (Mike Budenholzer) credit. They’re playing great basketball.”

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 17 points, six rebounds, six assists, and a season-high four steals in 31 minutes. Brooklyn Nets rookie player, Nicolas Claxton, a member of the Nets second unit, scored a career-high 14 points (on a career-high 7-of-12 FG) with a career-high-tying six rebounds, and a career-high-tying three blocks in a career-high 19 minutes; Taurean Prince recorded 13 points in 24 minutes; Spencer Dinwiddie, who had been carrying the Brooklyn Nets in point-scoring during Kyrie Irving’s absence, registered 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists in 27 minutes, and; Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot chipped in 10 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench.

Nets rookie Nicolas Claxton, who came off the bench against Milwaukee last night, told the media what kind of feedback he is receiving from Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks, and the Brooklyn Nets coaching staff.

“They all have been giving me great feedback,” said Claxton. “In Long Island, I’ve been solid, and that’s what they want, especially from a young guy like me who they’re really trying to develop. So, I’m just doing the best that I can with that.”

What’s Next for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Milwaukee Bucks will return home to Milwaukee to host the Chicago Bulls on Monday, January 20, 2020, at 4:00 p.m. CT.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will host the Philadelphia 76ers at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn also on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 20, 2020, at 3:00 p.m. ET.

TIP-INS:

Taurean Prince’s second 3-pointer made last night against the Milwaukee Bucks was his 100th of the season, moving him past Joe Harris (99 threes) for the team lead. He now has made 101 threes on the season.

Nets in striking distance of Bucks through first-half, but overwhelmed by Bucks in 3rd quarter 36-22; Nets still 6th in NBA Eastern Conference

The Brooklyn Nets have been undergoing a rough patch lately. All teams in the NBA go through a backward slide during the NBA season at some point or another, even the reigning NBA champion, the Golden State Warriors, as of today, has lost 15 games this season. However, when you’re fighting for relevancy and trying not to fall out of NBA playoff positioning, you have little room for error and so is the case for the Brooklyn Nets.

Last night, and every game at this point and going forward is important for the Nets. Unfortunately, the Brooklyn Nets couldn’t pull off a win against the Milwaukee Bucks, the current number 1 team in the NBA. The Bucks defeated the Brooklyn Nets, 113-94. With the loss, the Nets fell to 28-27 overall and 16-12 at Barclays Center. Meanwhile, the Bucks improved to 39-13 overall and 17-9 on the road. There’s little surprise that the Nets would lose to a team aiming to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, but the play of game exposed how Nets player injuries have put a serious dent in the Nets ability to keep pace with an elite team operating at full strength.

Even Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer agrees.

“Brooklyn’s really banged up so it’s almost not fair,” Budenholzer said graciously. “But for us on the end of a road trip, it’s a good win.”

Budenholzer highlighted key elements that helped the Bucks pull off a win against the Nets: “Really good win. The focus coming out of the halftime was really good. Khris (Middleton) had a stretch there for two or three minutes -- kind of put us on his back, and obviously, Giannis is special. I thought the defense between (Eric) Bledsoe and Malcolm (Brogdon) on D’Angelo Russell and Shabazz Napier was very good.”

Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson sees a silver-lining ahead for his team, as Caris LeVert and Allen Crabbe will be at a full-on practice today.

“Progressing great,” Atkinson said about LeVert during his pregame press conference last night. “He will practice with the G-League team tomorrow, a full-on practice. Allen Crabbe will be in that bucket too and then we will evaluate after the practice, but both of them (are) progressing nicely.”

Nets guard D’Angelo Russell is chomping at the bit for Crabbe and LeVert’s return to the lineup because he knows how much their return will help the team.

“A lot, a lot, a lot,” Russell said about how much getting Crabbe and LeVert back in the lineup would help the team. “It’s forcing Coach to really go deep in the bench (player absences), but you get that caliber of guys back and you’re at another level, so the sooner the better.”

In addition to LeVert and Crabbe being out for the Nets, Spencer Dinwiddie, a team leader, is also out. Dinwiddie underwent successful surgery last week to repair ligaments in his right thumb. There is no timetable for his return as yet. And, Nets center Jarrett Allen acknowledges Dinwiddie's importance to the team and what the Nets are missing without Dinwiddie’s presence.

“Just Spencer driving to the rim,” Allen said. “Just Spencer being able to create space. Just him all around.”

Regarding Nets scoring leaders, Russell led the Nets with 18 points and five assists in 29 minutes against the Bucks. Shabazz Napier, who made his second start for the Nets last night, recorded 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 28 minutes. Theo Pinson added 10 points, a career-high-tying eight rebounds, and two assists in 26 minutes off the bench.

Although (Jarrett) Allen did not score in double-digits, he led the Nets in rebounding with 11.

For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 30 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists, and three blocked shots; Malcolm Brogdon scored 15 points and eight rebounds; Eric Bledsoe registered 15 points, five assists, five steals, and three rebounds, and; Khris Middleton chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.

The Bucks are heading home to Milwaukee to host the Washington Wizards, tomorrow, Wednesday, February 6, at 8 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the Nets will stay at home and host the Denver Nuggets at the Barclays Center on Wednesday, February 6, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

DeMarre Carroll scores 11 of 15 points in first quarter; Nets bench kept team in the game; Coach Atkinson visibly disturbed by Nets effort in first quarter

It’s NFL Super Bowl Sunday, and the Brooklyn Nets had a 12-noon date with the Milwaukee Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo aka the “Greek Freak”.

For the Brooklyn Nets, things got ugly fast. Save, DeMarre Carroll and Jahlil Okafor off the bench, the Nets shots weren’t going down; their trajectory seemed to be off, too much force, too much spin, etc., etc. Meanwhile, the Bucks seemed to be scoring at will.

At the end of the first quarter, it was Bucks 36, Nets 22. When the Nets dig themselves into a hole early, the outcome is usually not good, and today’s 109-94 thumping by the Bucks proved the point.

What hurt the Nets the most this afternoon?

“Our start,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media without hesitation.

“Somehow, for some reason, we weren’t ready,” Atkinson continued. “I don’t understand how that happens. I’m a little upset with our group that we weren’t more ready mentally, physically. You give up 36 points in the first quarter; it’s like, that team is too good, too good to let that happen. We did show some fight with our bench. I thought they came in and gave a glimmer of hope there. But too big of a hole against a very talented team.”

The Nets’ bench outscored the Bucks’ bench 38 – 30; however, the Bucks outrebounded the Net 54-36.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: BROOKLYN NETS HEAD COACH KENNY ATKINSON (AUDIO)

“Against some of the best teams in the league, we’ve competed and we’re ready, but we were on our heels from the start,” Atkinson added. “And if you do that against a bigger team, a more athletic team, that’s just going to happen. You have to take 36 (points Bucks made in the first quarter) on the chin. So we just weren’t ready for the fight. I thought (Eric) Bledsoe set the tone. I thought he was the difference. He was an absolute ball of fire out there. We couldn’t stop him. Obviously, Giannis (Antetokounmpo) is going to do what he’s going to do, but Bledsoe really set the tone for them and dominated us.”

Spencer Dinwiddie, who did not have a good day in the points’ column, picked up his eighth game of double-digit assists this season. He totaled one such game in his first three NBA seasons combined and he credits his teammates for getting the Nets back in the game.

“I think Caris [LeVert] and D-Lo [D’Angelo Russell] did a great job picking up the pace, Staus [Nik Stauskas] hit a big shot,” Dinwiddie said. “I think Joe [Harris] had great energy, DC [DeMarre Carroll] was part of that run as well as Quincy [Acy], so I think those guys should be attributed for that run. Give all credit to those guys for getting us back into it; obviously, we didn’t get close enough.”

DeMarre Carroll recorded a team-high-tying 15 points and three rebounds in 32 minutes, with 11 of his points coming in the first quarter. Caris Levert came off the bench to also score 15 points and he leads the Nets with 27 games scoring in double figures off the bench this season. Nets rookie center Jarrett Allen tallied 14 points (7-of-11 FG) and a team-high seven rebounds in 27 minutes in his fourth-career start for Brooklyn. Allen Crabbe chipped in 11 points and five rebounds.

Like Dinwiddie, D’Angelo Russell was not a points’ leader against the Bucks, but he recorded seven assists in 18 minutes off the bench.

Eric Bledsoe led all scorers with 28 points and six assists in the win for the Bucks. John Henson tallied 19 points and 18 rebounds; both Khris Middleton and Antetokounmpo scored 16 points, while Antetokounmpo added eight rebounds to his tally.

Antetokounmpo twisted his right ankle with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining and left the game, not long after the Nets had cut what had been a 28-point deficit to seven. Post-game, the Greek Freak assured the media that he’s fine and would have gone back into the game if his team needed him.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO AKA "THE GREEK FREAK" (VIDEO)

This game against the Nets was Jabari Parker's second game after returning from a year-long injury and he helped the Bucks with 11 points off the bench. Bucks head coach Joe Prunty is pleased with Parker’s progress so far and is looking forward to Parker’s contributions.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: JOE PRUNTY, MILWAUKEE BUCKS, INTERIM HEAD COACH (VIDEO)

Next up for the Milwaukee Bucks is the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, February 6, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.

The Nets will host the Houston Rockets also on Tuesday, February 6, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. at home at the Barclays Center.

Sean Kilpatrick’s spectacular home debut spoiled by Nets turnovers in the fourth quarter

The Milwaukee Bucks came into Brooklyn this afternoon after beating the New Orleans Pelicans yesterday at home 103-92.

In a pre-game interview, acknowledging the energy drain of back-to-back games and plane trouble, which prevented the Milwaukee Bucks from having an earlier arrival, Bucks head coach Jason Kidd stated that “we’re going to need everybody.”

Everybody wasn’t necessary because Giannis Antetokounmpo was on fire! Antetokounmpo aka “The Greek Freak” scored 28 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds, nearly obtaining his fourth triple-double in the last 11 games by halftime. Antetokounmpo already had 12 points, nine assists and eight rebounds by the half.

Jabari Parker added 23 points, and Khris Middleton chipped in 19 points to help the Bucks beat the Nets 109-100; securing the Bucks third straight game.

The Nets didn’t exactly roll over and play dead, as team Black and White led by one heading into the fourth quarter. However, Brook Lopez, who scored 20 points for the Nets, was held scoreless in the fourth.

Sean Kilpatrick, who recently signed a 10-day contract with the Nets, added 19 points in his first home game. Thaddeus Young pulled down 17 points and 10 rebounds, his 26th double-double of the year. Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 13 points and a career-high seven assists.

So, what happened?

In a nutshell, it was a 31-21 fourth quarter advantage for Milwaukee. Add to that, Lopez was held scoreless in the fourth, and the Nets committed 12 turnovers in the fourth and 20 on the night.

“Turnovers. We played well enough for three-quarters and then we had crucial turnovers that you can’t recover from,” Nets interim coach Tony Brown said.

"I wouldn't even say it was their pressure," Thaddeus Young said. "We were throwing the ball all over the place. We had a lot of turnovers that were kind of unforced."

The Nets loss to Milwaukee tonight was the Nets’ first game at Barclays Center after an unprecedented nine-game, three-week road trip.