Net Worth: Bucks 92, Nets 85

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Milwaukee Bucks 92 Final
Recap | Box Score
85 New Jersey Nets
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 24 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | -21

Nope.

Kris Humphries, PF 31 MIN | 5-11 FG | 3-4 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 13 PTS | -8

Didn’t he go for 24-18 yesterday against Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer? Am I dreaming? Was the world on drugs or lucid dreaming Inception-style last night after all? Turned it up a bit in the second half with a couple of nice finishes on alley-oops, but all in all surprisingly ineffective given the return of his center teammate and his strong play yesterday.

Brook Lopez, C 22 MIN | 2-7 FG | 5-11 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 9 PTS | -4

About what you could pessimistically expect coming back — had some of his post moves, but struggled to find his touch. Never got in a rhythm with Deron Williams or MarShon Brooks. Two major issues: 5-11 shooting from the free throw line, and just two rebounds in 21 minutes.

Deron Williams, PG 37 MIN | 10-24 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 6 AST | 26 PTS | -9

Took a lot of bad shots, but a bad Deron Williams shot is often more effective than a good anyone-else shot. Was front and center during the rapid Nets fourth-quarter comeback that you never really felt like they had a shot in. He needs help, everywhere, and badly.

MarShon Brooks, G 36 MIN | 3-14 FG | 6-8 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 12 PTS | -5

Possibly the worst shooting night of his young career. You know those shots are going in some days. Just not tonight.

Shelden Williams, PF 26 MIN | 1-8 FG | 2-3 FT | 15 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | +5

One time in college, I grabbed 19 rebounds in a game, mostly as a function of missing my own putbacks over and over again. On a completely unrelated note, Shelden Williams had nine offensive rebounds and shot 1-8 from the field.

Anthony Morrow, SG 37 MIN | 7-11 FG | 1-1 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 17 PTS | +10

Was the only offensive option outside of D-Will worth going through tonight. Hit a bunch of shots in the corner. I’m glad he’s coming off the bench — I think on an ideal team, he’s the first or second guard off the bench — but the DeShawn Stevenson experiment has to end.

Five Things We Saw

  1. The Nets’ effort to start the game was in stark contrast to the night before: where they appeared a well-oiled machine in the first quarter against the Chicago Bulls, the Nets were stymied by a strong interior Milwaukee defense and confused by their own defensive assignments. The Nets shot just 19% in the first quarter on a particularly unique variety of missed layups and bricked jumpers, and couldn’t make their free throws. Despite the rapidly random fourth-quarter comeback, the Bucks controlled this one from start to finish as effectively as the Nets did yesterday against Chicago.
  2. The first half was ugly. Supa ugly. 26 fouls and 36 free throws in the first half. 14 of those free throws misses. 60 missed field goals out of 87 in the first half. Bodies for teams on both ends hit the floor on nearly every possession. Johan Petro tried shooting off the dribble. It was a 24-minute train wreck, except it was really over an hour what with all the clock stoppages.

    And the scouting report after the first half: Keep Ersan Ilyasova out of the paint. The Nets failed miserably.
  3. The grades don’t allow for me to give an incomplete, but Brook Lopez deserves one. Played well, but played fairly and clearly limited. He wasn’t the low post force we’ve become accustomed to seeing for three seasons, but he wasn’t a complete dud. He looked like a guy who hadn’t played at the professional level in ten months and needs time to shake the rust off.
  4. This is what the back-end of a back-to-back looks like when three of your starters play 40+ minutes in the first one. In the grand scheme of things, think ensuring the victory over a tough Chicago team is worth the risk of losing an uglyfest against Milwaukee the next day. If this game is any indication, tomorrow night against New York is going to be rough.
  5. Bears repeating, but the Nets need a small forward badly. So, so badly. Brook Lopez will return to 100% health, MarShon Brooks can flat-out score on most days, Kris Humphries will pick up the garbage, and Deron Williams is Deron Williams. But the Nets have the worst small forward rotation in the league and zero healthy small forwards. With that, with MarShon Brooks shooting 3-14, with Ersan Draculasova having the game of his career, with a 60% Brook Lopez, the Nets still only lost by seven.