Furious rally by Bucks falls short in 113-110 loss to Nets

On January 3, 2025By Littum

The Milwaukee Bucks are no doubt happy to get rid of Brooklyn Nets.

The Nets, a team actively stripping its roster of veterans and trying to get to the top of the draft lottery, beat the Bucks for the third time in four tries this season with a 113-110 victory at the Fiserv Forum on Thursday night.

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“Give them credit because you know how they were going to show up and you knew they were going to,” Bucks head coach Rivers said. “They just beat us. So they have a lot of confidence. That’s the way this league works.”

The theme from the Bucks players after the game was how they once again did not match the competitive intensity of the Nets. Giannis Antetokounmpo talked about individual pride and playing harder, saying simply that three of the four times Brooklyn did both, better.

“I don’t think we had the right energy today,” Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr. said. “Sometimes in these kinds of games against a team like that, it’s not about X’s and O’s, it’s about not about making shots or whatever it is, it’s just the effort. They’ve beaten us three times this season, strictly speaking.

“Our effort wasn’t there and that’s something we shouldn’t harp on is our effort, especially we’re 30 games in, 32 games in, 31 games in, our effort should be there every night. I don’t think our effort was enough there today and we have to be better on Saturday and going forward for the rest of the year.”

Antetokounmpo had a go-ahead chance with 6.1 seconds left, but his layup attempt rolled off the rim. Ziaire Williams hit two free throws to give Brooklyn a 113-110 lead, but Damian Lillard’s three-point attempt off a beautiful inbound set out of a timeout was wide of the mark. Lillard got another heave with six-tenths of a second left from 35 feet, but it came up short.

It was the second game in a row the Bucks had to rally from a double-digit deficit, but unlike at Indiana on Dec. 31, the Bucks couldn’t pull this one out.

“You have to build a mental habit that no matter what the score is, we have to continue to compete until the end of the game,” Antetokounmpo said. “And if today’s not our night, you sit on the bench, the young guys come in and they try to compete and they try to make something happen. That’s the habit you have to create.

“But let’s not overcomplicate the game (today): We didn’t play well, they’ve played harder than us in three of the four games, we didn’t play smart, we’ve just got to go back, watch the film and get better. It’s big See, I’m not complicating things.

Brooklyn (13-21) began the season 9-10 but has won just four times since Nov. 29 – and Milwaukee was the victim in two of them, first on Dec. 26 and then again on Thursday. The Nets had lost three straight between the wins over the Bucks.

Milwaukee is now 3-4 since winning the Emirates NBA Cup on Dec. 17 and hasn’t played a team over .500 since Cleveland on Dec. 20. The Bucks (17-15) will play fellow lottery contenders Portland and Toronto before tougher teams re-emerge on the schedule 8-12. January with San Antonio, Orlando and New York on the schedule.

“We have to give more to the game, especially in this type of game where sometimes you can overlook an opponent and then they sneak a win to you,” Portis said. “These games can really affect us going forward, especially in the run we’re in right now.”

The Bucks faced three different versions of the Nets in their four games, with Brooklyn trading away Dennis Schröder, Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton and then resting Ben Simmons on Thursday.

But the Nets continued to blast the Bucks – scoring 27 points off 14 Bucks turnovers. Cam Johnson had 26 points to lead the Nets and Cam Thomas added 24 points off the bench. Nic Claxton scored 16 and had 11 rebounds, while D’Angelo Russell, recently reacquired in the trade for Smith and Milton, had 12 assists and 11 points.

Antetokounmpo had 27 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, while Damian Lillard added 23 points. Portis (15), Khris Middleton (12) and Gary Trent Jr. (10) also reached double figures for the Bucks.

“We’ve shown that — when we’re locked in, when we play as a team, we can be good,” Anteokounmpo said. “And when we don’t play as a team, when we’re not locked in, we can be very bad. So we just have to be careful, push ourselves in the right direction, which is to compete, play as a team, play to win in as many games as we can.”

Pat Connaughton, MarJon Beauchamp spark off the bench

The last time Pat Connaughton and MarJon Beauchamp played meaningful minutes together late in the game, they helped the Bucks pull out a three-point victory in Miami on Nov. 26. Then in the fourth quarter, down 17, Doc Rivers called Connaughton’s number.

Down at 21, he called Beauchamp.

When the pair were ejected, there were seconds left and the Bucks had a chance to go ahead and/or tie the game.

“We needed live legs and just somebody else because nobody had been playing well,” Rivers said, before telling a story about seeing Connaughton running sprints by himself at the practice facility on Jan. 1.

The veteran wing had a big block on a Cam Thomas three-point attempt and threw down a breakaway dunk afterward. He also pulled down four rebounds.

“When you’re struggling and you need somebody that you know is bought in, my first impulse was Pat Connaughton,” Rivers continued. “And he did. He played great. I was really happy.”

Connaughton: “It’s always great to be on the floor – that’s what you play the game for. I wish we could have pulled it out, wish I could have made one of the threes I got to help pull it out. It’s always plays I look at individually that I can get better at, always plays we try to look at as a team that we can learn from. But I thought we left it out there for the last nine and a half, 10 minutes and tried to do what I could to help the team win.

Rivers was similarly pleased with Beauchamp, who had three tough defensive rebounds and helped the Bucks hold the Nets scoreless for nearly the entire time he was on the floor.

“I thought defensively and that’s something we’ve really been on him about, if he can do that every night, he can earn minutes,” Rivers said. “I thought he was phenomenal defensively tonight.”

Bobby Portis called out the pair for their efforts to help the team get back into the game as well, and Giannis Antetokounmpo pointed to the professionalism they showed in contributing in that way.

“First of all, how professional they are, it’s unbelievable,” Antetokounmpo said.

“To be able to come in and both be locked in defensively and kind of give us the momentum we needed was big from both of them. Offensively, they both made the right plays for us. They helped us tremendously. They came in when we were down (big) and they helped the team get back into the game. It says a lot about how they work when no one is watching them to stay ready when their number is called to be able to go out there and do whatever it takes to to help the team win. I have to tip my hat to both of those guys.”

Damian Lillard struggles with shots, helps Bucks rally

Since coming back from a calf strain and the worst respiratory illness he said he’s ever experienced on Dec. 28 in Chicago, All-Star point guard Damian Lillard has fallen into a bit of a shooting funk. He was 8 of 19 against the Bulls, but went just 3 of 14 (21.4%) at Indiana on Dec. 31. He followed that up with a 6-for-20 performance against Brooklyn, but he scored 11 points in the fourth quarter — hitting two 3-pointers and making three free throws. His three-pointer with 6:38 left started a 20-0 run that ended with his driving layup with 37.2 seconds left, making it a one-point game.

Andre Jackson Jr. thrown out for hitting Nic Claxton

With 9.9 seconds left in the second quarter, Bucks guard Andre Jackson Jr. ejected for punching Nets center Nic Claxton in the face. Jackson Jr. raised his left hand as he approached Claxton at half court and made unnecessary and excessive contact with his head, leading to an immediate whistle and review of play. Following that review, Jackson was assessed an obvious penalty of 2, which warrants an immediate expulsion.

Giannis Antetokounmpo sets NBA record

By scoring 27 points on 50% shooting overall (12-for-24), Giannis Antetokounmpo set an NBA record with his 26^th even game by scoring 20 or more points on at least 50% shooting. He broke a record he shared with Shaquille O’Neal (January 1-March 15, 2001) and Zion Williamson (February 6-April 6, 2021). Antetokounmpo had already set the record for most consecutive games to open the season by those benchmarks.

It continues a wildly efficient and productive start to the season for Antetokounmpo, who entered Thursday’s game leading the league in scoring at 32.6 points per game. game on 61% shooting in total. Last year, he became the first player in league history to average 30 or more points per game. game (30.4) on at least 60% shooting (61.1%).

With his 41-point effort on 70.8% shooting against Chicago on Nov. 20, Antetokounmpo set the NBA record for most career games with 40 or more points on at least 70% shooting with 21, passing Adrian Dantley (20).

5 numbers

1: Season dunks for Khris Middleton, who went over the rim with two hands off a pass from Giannis Antetokounmpo at the 7:48 mark of the first quarter. Middleton attempted a dunk on a breakaway against Atlanta on Dec. 14, but otherwise hasn’t had many attempts this season. Conversely, teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the NBA in dunks with 101.
4-2: Bucks record when the big three of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard have played together this season.
25: Play back where point guard Ryan Rollins could be active after Tuesday’s game. The Bucks have 50 games left in the regular season. Rollins is currently a two-way player, and players signed to those deals can only be active for 50 games in a season — but head coach Doc Rivers said there’s a chance the team makes a roster move for to fully guarantee Rollins’ deal for the rest of the season.
44: Rank all-time on the assists list for Damian Lillard after the award 5+ vs. Nets for 5,842+ for his career. He passed Avery Johnson (5,846). Next is former Bucks point guard Sam Cassell (No. 43, 5,939).
20/12: Date of Pat Connaughton’s last appearance. The veteran wing checked into the fourth quarter against Brooklyn.

Is Giannis playing?

Yes. Antetokounmpo is over his illness enough not to have it listed on the injury report, and he’s back to dealing with pain in his right knee — which he’s dealt with all season but has yet to force him to miss a game.

Bucks starters

Guards: Damian Lillard, Andre Jackson Jr.
Forwards: Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo
Center: Brook Lopez

Buck’s injury report

AJ Green, out (lower back contusion)
Giannis Antetokounmpo, probable (right patella tendinopathy)
Khris Middleton, probable (bilateral ankle surgery)

What channel is Bucks on?

The game tips off at 7:00 PM and will be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin with Lisa Byington, Marques Johnson and Melanie Ricks on the call.

Bucks vs. Net odds, over/under

Milwaukee is a 13.5 point favorite over Brooklyn and the over/under is 218.5 points per. BetMGM.