EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.—Jarvis Hayes had been waiting to get back out on the floor after 32 games of observation, a strained left hamstring sidelining him shortly after he had entered the season opener.

The first play showed rust, as Hayes tossed a pass out-of-bounds on his initial touch, midway through the opening quarter. But two possessions later he caught Devin Harris’ feed and smoothly swished a jumper. That softly settling J was welcome, even though it inspired no intended outcome as the Nets were blown out at home by the Bucks on Tuesday, 98-76.

”It’s tough,” Hayes said, of coming back to a loss. “It is tough. But you can’t change it. We’ve just got to figure out a way to get it done better than we’ve been.”

The seventh-year swingman said that he felt no pain during or after his 14-minute stint, though Hayes admitted being particularly winded after his second substitution, shortly before the end of the first half. Hayes finished with seven points and six rebounds, shooting 3-of-5 from the floor and sinking one of his two three-point attempts.

Nets coach and GM Kiki Vandeweghe also attempted to incorporate forward Eduardo Najera, who played 14 ½ minutes in his first game action since December 18th against Toronto. Najera had a tougher return than did Hayes, going scoreless after shooting 0-for-4 while amassing two rebounds against two turnovers. Out with a sore back, Najera hadn’t practiced before returning – unlike Hayes, who had about two weeks’ lead time.

“I thought Jarvis looked good,” said Harris, the Nets' point guard. “We tried to run him off some screens early on, kind of get his legs back underneath. The majority of his shots looked good. Eduardo was himself, picking up full court, just causing havoc, rebounding. He’s a little more rested than Jarvis is but I think he’ll be able to come back and work himself back into it.”

After starting the game on a 12-4 run, the Nets’ offense went cold, and they finished the game shooting .379 from the floor. Yi Jianlian led the team with 22 points, continuing his string of offensively aggressive games, and though he finished with only two rebounds, the third-year forward added two steals and two blocked shots. Chris Douglas-Roberts had 10 points at halftime, but finished with 12, and Brook Lopez (11 points, 2-6 FGs, 7 rebounds) struggled against Andrew Bogut (18 points, 5-8 FGs, 5 rebounds).

The Nets were undone by turnovers, committing 17 – 10 in the first quarter – which turned into 22 points for the Bucks. And they were outrebounded for a 22nd-straight game, this time 44-31, which included allowing 11 offensive boards. The Bucks totaled 17 second-chance points to only four for the Nets, who missed 1-of-5 putbacks.

“We’re going to have nights like tonight,” Vandeweghe said. “We’ve had one or two of them in the last three weeks, and what you have to learn from tonight, understand you are not going to win if you play like tonight; you give yourself no chance to win. So we have to just understand that and move on.”

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