Bucks-Nets Preview

By JORDAN GARRETSON
Posted Dec 08 2012 6:00PM

Maybe a new home and look will get the Brooklyn Nets over the hump against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Nets go for their first win in this series in nearly four years as they host the Bucks on Sunday night.

Milwaukee has won the past 11 meetings, with its last loss coming March 3, 2009, but those all came when the Nets were based in New Jersey. Those games also were before Brooklyn's offseason additions of Joe Johnson and Andray Blatche - two of its top four scorers.

It seems the Nets (11-7) have a decent chance to end the drought this season, on pace to finish with a better record than the Bucks (9-9) for the first time since 2007-08.

However, Brooklyn enters this matchup trying to snap a three-game losing streak, the last two at Barclays Center. The Nets had won five straight before the skid, which continued with a 109-102 loss to Golden State on Friday.

Their impressive 11-4 start was anchored by defense. They held opponents to 90.4 points per game during that span, but that number is 109.3 over the last three.

The Nets' last three opponents shot a combined 53.8 percent from the field, including 43.4 percent 3-point shooting.

"Our problem is defense," coach Avery Johnson said. "We are not the same team defensively. We have to get back and figure it out. We have to get our team out of this defensive funk."

The loss of 7-foot center Brook Lopez could be partially to blame. Lopez, averaging a career-high 2.5 blocks, has missed the last four games with a sprained right foot and is likely out Sunday. He performed more agility and shooting drills Saturday and was pain free but is still considered day-to-day.

Blatche has played well taking Lopez's place in the lineup, averaging 18.8 points in his first four starts of the season.

Blatche had 22 points with a season-high 15 rebounds Friday, and Johnson scored a season-best 32, but Brooklyn wasted a 13-point lead in the first half. A week earlier, the team blew a 14-point advantage in a loss to Miami.

"We've had similar games like this all season where we get out to a lead and really can't hang on to it," said Deron Williams, who has 56 points over the last two games.

Milwaukee is also struggling after a surprising 6-2 start. The Bucks have dropped seven of 10, even with Friday's 108-93 home win over Charlotte.

Their second-highest scoring total of the season and first 100-point performance since Nov. 21 was a welcome shift. Milwaukee averaged 91.9 points in its previous nine games after putting up 101.0 per game in the first eight.

Leading scorers Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings were held to a combined 28 points on 8-of-27 shooting Friday, but the Bucks improved to 5-0 when Jennings has at least eight assists.

Ersan Ilyasova stepped up with season highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Marquis Daniels scored a season-best 18 in his fourth straight start.

Daniels was 3 of 3 from beyond the arc and has hit his last four after starting 1 for 12.

"They kept telling me to look to shoot the ball, look to score," he said. "It opened it up for the other guys."

Mike Dunleavy, averaging 10.8 points but held below double figures in his last five, could miss a third consecutive game due to a bruised left knee.

Jennings averaged 27.0 points in Milwaukee's three-game sweep last season.

Jennings, Ellis lead Bucks in 97-88 win over Nets

By ADRIANO TORRES
Posted Dec 09 2012 11:26PM

NEW YORK (AP) Brandon Jennings had heard all the talk about how Brooklyn's backcourt of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson was considered one of the best in the league.

Jennings and his backcourt mate Monta Ellis were aware of the height advantage Williams and Johnson had on them, but the Milwaukee Bucks' duo showed they belong in the conversation, too.

Jennings scored 26 points and Ellis added 24 as Milwaukee withstood Brooklyn's fourth-quarter rally and beat the Nets 97-88 Sunday night.

"It wasnt a competition or anything like that," said Jennings, who also had seven assists and six rebounds. "We knew they had height advantage ... so we wanted to run tonight and use more of your speed."

Ellis, who's struggled with his shot in the early part of this season and who came into the game shooting a career-low 38.9 percent from the field, said he didn't pay any mind to the talk about the Nets' backcourt.

" I never thought about it," Ellis said. "It was just another game. It just happened me (and Jennings) came out wanting to play hard. We came out with nice energy, got a great lead. We made our run, they made their run but we were able to hold them off and get a win."

Jennings and Ellis outscored Williams and Johnson 50-24 and managed to make some key plays in the final minutes to seal the victory.

Marquis Daniels had 13 points for the Bucks and Ersan Ilyasova added 10 as Milwaukee won its second straight. The Bucks have beaten the Nets 12 straight times dating back to March 30, 2009.

Milwaukee led by 29 points with 6:59 left in the third quarter but Brookyln got within six after Williams found an open Kris Humphries, who came off the bench for the first time this season, for an uncontested dunk.

Jennings then found Ellis for a layup to make it 87-79 before the Nets called a timeout with 2:24 left in regulation. On the ensuing play, Gerald Wallace lost his balance and the ball, Jennings scooped up the loose ball and connected with Larry Sanders for reverse layup to extend the Bucks' lead to 10 points.

MarShon Brooks, who scored 14 points off the bench for the Nets, then hit a 3-pointer to bring the Nets within seven but Marquis Daniels hit a 3-pointer to make it 92-82 and pretty much put the game out of reach.

Luc Mbah a Moute's 21-foot jumper made it 94-84. The Nets then called a timeout and Williams drove to the basket to cut the lead to 94-86. Brooks then fouled Ellis, who hit a pair of free throws.

The Nets looked like they were on their way to snapping out their losing streak, taking an 11-2 lead in the first quarter before Skiles called a timeout to settle his team down with 8:46 remaining. It apparently worked as the Bucks outscored Brooklyn 23-7.

"Other than the initial start of the game, we played pretty well and Brookyln didn't," Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles said. "The Nets missed shots they normally wouldn't and we took advantage of it. Brooklyn obvioulsy made it a game late. . Overall, it was a great win for us. It's the nature of our team; when Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings are playing well, we usually win."

Williams had 18 points and eight assists and Wallace added 16 points and 16 rebounds for the struggling Nets, losers of four straight.

With team owner Mikhail Prokhorov in attendance, the Nets' offense looked stagnant for the most part of the game's first three quarters before making the late run. During one stretch in the second quarter, in which they were trailing by 10 points, Brooklyn offered nothing but a 3-second violation, a shot clock violation, a turnover by Andray Blatche as the Nets came off a timeout, a turnover by Humphries and another 3-second violation, all in succession.

Johnson, who scored six points on just 2-for-8 shooting, played the first three minutes of the third quarter before Nets coach Avery Johnson pulled him out in favor of Brooks.

Avery Johnson liked the way the Nets battled back but wasn't thrilled with the way the Nets played in the first half.

The Milwaukee defense held the Nets to 13-of-47 shooting in the first half (27.7 percent) and limited them to only five made baskets on 21 attempts in the second quarter with eight turnovers.

"We had a really bad second quarter and didn't take care of the balll. We had too many turnovers and missed shots. We can't play one half and beat anybody. I'm proud of the effort in the second half but I'm not proud of the game overall," Avery Johnson said.

The Nets were without Brook Lopez, who was out again due to a mild sprained right foot and has now missed his last five games. The Nets are 1-4 without their starting center.

With a big game coming up Tuesday night at home against the New York Knicks, whom they beat last week in the teams' first intracity meeting, Williams hopes that the Nets don't think they can only win with Lopez on the floor.

"We definitely want him back but we don't want to think we can't win without him. That's never how you should come into a game thinking because you dont have one or two players, this guy or that guy, that you dont have a chance to win," Williams said.

Johnson tried a new lineup Sunday, benching Humphries in place of Reggie Evans. The Nets' coach was looking for something different after his team had struggled recently in the first quarter of their games.

Evans and Blatche, who combined for 16 points and 15 rebounds, came into the game as Brooklyn's most productive tandem in their lineup with a plus-11.3 differential between offensive and defensive efficiency.

NOTES: New York native Doron Lamb, who was Milwaukee's second-round pick, No. 42 overall, in the 2012 draft, scored 10 points off the bench in his first game back in his hometown. . The Nets have lost their last seven home games to Milwaukee. . Bucks center Ekpe Udoh injured his left wrist during a play in the beginning of the second quarter and did not return. X-rays were negative.

Notebook: Bucks 97, Nets 88

Jake Appleman, for NBA.com
Posted Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:42 PM - Updated Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:42 PM

THE FACTS: Even when they weren't careless with the ball (22 turnovers), the Nets handled it like a hot potato. They blew assignments on defense and shot very poorly on offense (under 32-percent heading into the fourth quarter). Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis made a living off of the idea that speed kills, combining for 50 points. It all added up to the most uninspired three quarters of the Nets' season, and a 97-88 loss to the Bucks after an excellent fourth quarter made the final score more respectable. The Nets have now lost a season-high four straight games.

QUOTABLE: "Playing one of the best point guards, like Deron Williams, you can't let him get into his comfort zone. My job tonight was to pressure him as much as I could."
-- Jennings, who finished with five steals and helped hold Williams to 8-19 shooting from the field, including 1-7 from distance.

THE STAT: The Nets went more than seven minutes minutes without a field goal, spanning the end of the 2nd and the early part of the 3rd quarter.

TURNING POINT: Up 17 at intermission, the Bucks put the Nets in an even deeper hole early in the third quarter with a 9-2 run, increasing the difficulty of the Nets' comeback.

QUOTABLE II: "We made a push at the end, but there wasn't enough time."
-- Kris Humphries

INSIDE THE ARENA: Willie Randolph, who has managed MLB teams in New York and Milwaukee, attended the game. ... Fans booed, an unusual occurrence at Barclays Center, after the Bucks took a 22-point lead early in the third quarter. They booed some more when the lead increased to as much as 29.

ROOKIE WATCH: New York native Doron Lamb scored six points and grabbed 2 rebounds in 14 minutes of action.

NOTABLE: Reggie Evans got his first start of the season and the Nets, who have excelled with Reggie Evans and Andray Blatche on the court together, comfortably jumped out to a 11-2 lead before the Bucks outscored them 23-7 to end the quarter. ... A massive paint presence, the Bucks' Larry Sanders blocked four shots. ... Joe Johnson did not record his first field goal until early in the fourth quarter. ... Down 20 early in the fourth quarter, Gerald Wallace (16 points, 16 rebounds) went hurdling over -- and into -- some courtside spectators. He immediately got up and resumed playing. ... Thrust back into the rotation in the second half, MarShon Brooks sparked the Nets, scoring 14 points, needing only five field goal attempts and five free throw attempts to do so. ... The Nets lost for the first time in nine tries when Evans plays over 20 minutes and their 31 first half points were a season low.

UP NEXT: For the Bucks, Wednesday vs. Sacramento, Friday @ Cleveland, Saturday vs. LA Clippers. For the Nets, Tuesday vs. New York, Wednesday @ Toronto, Friday vs. Detroit.

• Bucks: Dunleavy, Udrih
• Nets: Lopez, Shengelia

• Bucks: --
• Nets: Evans

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
• Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #63 Derek Richardson, #45 Brian Forte
• Attendance: 16390
• Duration: 2:16