Game 33 Recap: Bucks 92, Nets 85

Yep, tonight was so bad this guy got 29 points and 25 rebounds.  #Ersaninsanity

If you look up “let-down game” in the dictionary, I’m sure you’ll find the recap of this game. One night after an awesome, losing streak-breaking win over the NBA-best Chicago Bulls, the Nets laid an enormous egg and spoiled Brook Lopez’ return against the lowly Milwaukee Bucks, who were missing some of their better players due to injury. New Jersey just couldn’t get anything going on either end of the court as they shot a dismal 34 percent from the field, 22 percent from behind the arc, and a pathetic 67 percent from the free-throw line. They also couldn’t keep up with the Bucks’ Ersan Ilyasova, who had career-highs in points and rebounds with 29 and 25. A simply awful performance overall.

Milwaukee got off to a quick start in the 1st quarter and built up a 6-point lead after 1  and extended that lead to the high-teens by the 3rd quarter. Unlike the Chicago game, a game in which the Nets made tons of shots early on, New Jersey found a lid on the rim for basically the whole game and couldn’t even convert on many wide-open jumpshots, lay-ups, and even free throw attempts. Brook’s return didn’t help much as his rust was obvious, evidenced by a 2-for-7 shooting performance while missing six of 11 free throw attempts. His lack of rebounding and interior defense really crutched the Nets’ comeback effort which soured late in the 4th quarter with a few 3-pointers by Brandon Jennings and Carlos Delfino.

Obviously, the story of last night’s game was Ilyasova who simply dominated both the offensive and defensive boards with 13 and 12 rebounds respectively. He also hit a few open 3-pointers and really showed the Nets just how bad their overall defense is. Even Kris Humphries, who had a monster game against Chicago, couldn’t contain the Turkish power forward who just didn’t seem to do anything wrong. Hump scored 13 points but was nowhere near as effective as his was against the Bulls and once again, it was all up to Deron Williams (and a little Anthony Morrow) to score for this team, and they just couldn’t make enough shots to lead the Nets to a win.

Some other observations I had from the game: Brook seemed to be at about 50 percent last night as he just didn’t have the agility and movement that he normally exhibits. I know much of that can be chalked up to rust but, to me, his foot did not look fully healed and I’m starting to question why he was rushed back onto the court if he wasn’t ready to go. Granted, Brook had a few nice moves towards the hoop but was a shadow of the player he was last year…Marshon’s shot selection was simply awful at times and it showed with his 3-for-14 shooting effort. I really love his talent and pure scoring potential, but Marshon has looked a lot like a rookie lately and is making tons of questionable decisions and shot choices but I guess that comes with the territory…Morrow definitely found his stroke as he scored 17 points on 7-11 shooting. Like earlier in the season, Anthony was one of few Nets in the game who could actually make shots and could be counted on to score at crucial points, which he did…Jordan Farmar didn’t play and it was announced right before the game that he will be held out of games until after the All-Star break…Shelden Williams was solid on the glass with 15 boards off the bench but couldn’t finish any of the easy second-chance attempts that he created for himself.


Looking Ahead
The Nets head to MSG to finish their back-back-back against the Linsane Knicks tomorrow night. Word on the street is that Brook won’t play.