See what the Nets had to say after their 131-121 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
KENNY ATKINSON
On Milwaukee's defense:
“They have a lot of good defensive players. Eric Bledsoe is a physical matchup and elite defender. They have Giannis (Antetokounmpo) obviously, and Brook (Lopez) who protects the rim. They got into us. They looked fresh and rested. If you really look at it though, it was all about the first quarter. They overwhelmed us. As a result, we didn’t make shots and we turned it over. They got out on they break and it was tough to stop them.”
On Brooklyn's slow start:
“We weren’t ready for that onslaught. Give them a lot of credit. They came with the juice and the energy. They turned our missed shots and turnovers into layups. Giannis was coming at us downhill and at that point it’s pick your poison. Keep him in front and give up the three or stay with their shooters and let him lay it up. It’s a tough quandary. I will say this, I thought we competed at a high level after that poor start.”
On Caris LeVert:
“It was his best game. From a confidence level and a physical level, that was the Caris from the beginning of the year. I loved how athletic he looked and how fast he looked. We stuck with him. He performed at a high level, and that bodes well for us going forward.”
CARIS LEVERT
On lessons from game:
“I think we put ourselves in a big hole in that first quarter and it was tough fighting back, especially against a good team like that. They’re number one in the East for a reason. But we just have to learn from it. We played great basketball for like three-and-a-half quarters, so we have to learn from it and keep going.”
On defensive plan against Bucks:
“We were kind of switching up from man to zone all game long, just trying to figure out what works. Obviously they have a really good player over there in Giannis (Antetokounmpo), and it’s tough to game plan around him, but we’ll see him again in a couple of games and we just have to adjust.”
On if Milwaukee's fast start put them on their heels:
“Yes. I think they hit a couple of tough shots. We kind of baited a couple of their guys to take some shots, and they hit them. That kind of put us behind the eight ball a little bit.”
JOE HARRIS
On how he found success against Bucks:
“Some of the looks that I got were just extra passes. The ball was moving. They’re a really good defensive team, but they collapse a lot on dribble penetration and a lot of times I was just kind of floating around. Caris (LeVert), D’Lo (D’Angelo Russell) – guys were just making these smart plays.”
On lessons from game:
“I think it’s kind of the same rhetoric. We have to come out against a playoff quality opponent and try to set the tone early. We came out and dug ourselves a hole again, and it’s too difficult to try and come back over the course of the game. It is a game of runs, but you can’t dig yourselves such a deep hole and try to get out of it against quality teams.”
On if Nets used up too much energy coming back early:
“I don’t know if it’s a matter of energy. We look at it, you’re trying to win each quarter and you can’t have that against good teams, or great teams like Milwaukee. You can’t afford to have the first quarter that we had against them.”