The Brooklyn Nets are back at home this week for three games after dropping both games of a two-game road trip to San Antonio and Orlando. It was Brooklyn's first set of back-to-back losses since a two-game road trip to Charlotte and Milwaukee at the end of December.
It's the conference-leading Bucks who will be at Barclays Center Monday night with their NBA-best 38-13 record. They'll be followed by the Denver Nuggets, currently tied with Golden State for the best record in the West, on Wednesday. The Chicago Bulls visit on Friday.
The Nets still have a home win streak of nine straight, and have won 13 of their last 14 at Barclays Center.
"We’ve got a big week coming up so we’ve got to recover, we’ve got to freshen up a little bit," said Nets coach Kenny Atkinson after Saturday night's loss. "I didn’t think we had great juice tonight. Just not enough juice. We’ve got to recover it. We’re playing two excellent teams right off the bat. Good thing we’re at home, so that will help."
After this week's home stretch, the Nets go on the road next week for games at Toronto and Cleveland going into the All-Star break.
"We can’t get comfortable," said D'Angelo Russell. "We’ve got to stay sharp offensively and defensively. I think the mental preparation going into every game has to be us being thirsty. We’ve got to get that mentality like we lost eight in a row. I think teams that don’t have that mentality, we’ll catch them off guard and that will be to our advantage."
ED DAVIS ON THE BOARDS
Ed Davis grabbed 16 rebounds against Orlando on Saturday night, his third game with precisely 16 rebounds in seven games since Jan. 21, and he's averaging 11.6 rebounds per game in that stretch while playing 21.6 minutes per game. That comes out to a per 36 rebounding rate of 19.5.
For the season, Davis has a per 36 rebounding rate of 17.3, a career high. He's also the only player in the NBA in the top three in offensive, defense, and overall rebounding percentage.
OFFENSE STALLS
The Nets' 102-89 loss in Orlando on Saturday was just the third time this season they've scored fewer than 90 points. Brooklyn will be looking to get the offense back in sync this week.
Over the last five games, the Nets have posted an offensive rating of 102.1. Prior to this stretch, as of Jan. 22, their offensive rating for the season was 110.0. While their assist and turnover numbers are consistent with their season-long rates, their field goal percentages -- overall and from 3-point range -- are each down at least four points. Their effective field goal percentage -- 52.7 as of Jan. 22 -- is 47.0 over the last five games.
"I think the ball is sticking," said Kenny Atkinson on Saturday night. "That’s part of it. We addressed it at halftime, the slow decisions, not moving it as quickly as we should. We only had 23 assists tonight. The ‘play-with-the-pass’ mentality we normally have is not there right now. We’re trying to attack too quickly without getting an advantage. It happens. It’s slippage, and we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and help our guys through this little stretch.
The Nets were largely satisfied with Saturday's defensive effort, and they've been solid there while the offense has slowed. Their defensive rating over the last five games is 103.2 compared to a 109.9 through Jan. 22.
ABOUT THE BUCKS
The 38-13 Bucks have the NBA's best record and have won nine of their last 10, including a 105-92 win over the Eastern Conference's second-place team, the Toronto Raptors, last Thursday. Milwaukee leads the league in net rating (9.6) and defensive rating (103.7) and is fourth in offensive rating (113.3). The Bucks are third in the NBA in field goal percentage (48.1) and are second in both 3-pointers attempted (37.7) and made (13.2) per game. They're also No. 1 in rebounds (48.8) and defensive rebounds (39.9) per game. Giannis Antetokounmpo averages 26.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game and is one of two players in the NBA ranked in the top 10 in both categories. He's also 13th in field goal percentage (57.3). The Bucks have a versatile trio of wings in Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon, all averaging at least 15 points, three assists and four rebounds per game. Former Nets center Brook Lopez is shooting 38.7 percent from 3-point range on 6.5 attempts per game.