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| The Nets had no answer for this guy’s jump-shot tonight |
The Nets’ losing streak to the Milwaukee Bucks was extended to 10 games tonight in a heart-breaking and simply dreadful 105-99 loss. New Jersey, without D-Will, finally got off to a quick start in the 1st half and even held a 12-point lead a few times in the 2nd quarter. However, when it got to the 2nd half of the game, the wheels on the Nets’ already-damaged bus fell right off and they couldn’t find a mechanic to put them back on.
The Bucks jumped out to a quick 5-0 run to start the 3rd quarter and cut the Nets’ halftime lead to 55-51. Even a career-high 31-point performance by Kris Humphries could slow Milwaukee who just started shooting the lights out in the last two quarters of the game. After the Bucks took their first lead of the game, 78-76, at the 10:47 mark of the 4th, they would never turn back and cruised for the win. Drew Gooden (23 PTS, 8 REBS, 7 ASTS) started draining deep jump-shots, Brandon Jennings’ (34, 7, 7) rainbow 3-point shot kept finding the bottom of the basket, and even Beno Udrih (15 PTS, 7 ASTS) somehow was wide open at the hoop for multiple lay-ups. The list keeps going on as the Bucks completely took advantage of the extreme lack of Nets’ 2nd-half defense en route to the hard-fought win.
Going back to the Nets, Kris Humphries was the star of the show but he and Anthony Morrow, who had 17 points on 8-11 shooting, just couldn’t pull out the win themselves and they didnt get much help from their teammates. No other Net’s rebounding total was within 12 of Hump’s ridiculous 18 board amount which meant that Milwaukee feasted on the glass when Kris wasn’t in the game. Filling in for D-Will, Jordan Farmar did score 17 points but it was on inefficient 6-17 shooting while Marshon Brooks crashed right back down to Earth from his great performance on Saturday. Brooks only scored 11 on 4-10 shooting but also committed five bad turnovers which really hurt the Nets’ chances of making a comeback late in the game.
The home struggles continue for the Nets who drop to 4-15 at the Prudential Center on the year. It simply confounds me that a team can play so well on the road at times (wins against Chicago, the Knicks, and Philly) but play so bad at home (Two losses to the Bucks, one to the Raptors, one to Detroit). I know that missing D-Will and Brook really hurts but the Nets were winning by 9 after two quarters against the Bucks, a not-so-good team. No matter how you slice it, tonight’s loss is debilitating and shows that this team just isn’t any good right now.
Some other observations I had from the game: Sundiata Gaines can’t handle this offense without committing a ton of turnovers and taking some bad shots that he has no business taking. I think it’s time to explore options for getting rid of Sundy and maybe calling up someone from the D-League (I like Blake Ahearn on Reno, he’s a smart player who knows his talents and plays to them specifically. He doesn’t overstep himself on the court)…DeShawn Stevenson has slowly turned into deadweight in this team. At least he’s gone after this season…Shelden Williams played well in his 20 minutes but I have no clue why that’s all the time he played. Wondering if he got hurt at some point tonight…Rumored Nets trade target Stephen Jackson didn’t get in the game at any point for the Bucks and with the trade deadline on Thursday, it may be a sign that the Milwaukee front office already has a deal in place for sending Jackson to another team…Normal Nets killers Carlos Delfino and Ersan Ilyasova combined for 6 points on 3-14 shooting in 56 minutes. Go figure.
Looking Ahead
The Nets look to snap this current two-game losing streak on Wednesday against the Raptors at the Pru Center. D-Will is currently day-to-day for the game.
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