In a nail-biter defeat, The Brooklyn Nets wasted stellar performances from guard Cam Thomas and forward Mikael Bridges, who scored a combined 76 points, in a 129-125 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks Monday night at Barclays Center.
Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points, and seven Bucks players scored in double figures, including guard Damian Lillard who added 21 points.
Currently, Thomas is tied for seventh in scoring in the NBA, scoring an average of 28.7 points per game. However, Bridges was the player who kept the Nets in the game in the first quarter, going 5-7 from the field and scoring 11 points, with a series of mid-range pull-up shots.
In the first quarter, only Bridges got to the free-throw line, where he completed a traditional 3-point play by sinking his foul shot.
In the second quarter, Thomas scored 14 points and made a series of 3-point shots, with the longest coming while he stood on the Nets logo.
Nine Bucks players made at least one field goal, led by Damian Lillard’s 8 points, in the second quarter. Brooklyn went into the intermission with a 67-63 lead.
Bridges and Thomas continued to carry the bulk of Brooklyn’s scoring load in the third quarter, where both players scored 10 points each but got little scoring help from the rest of the Nets’ line-up. Brooklyn kept the Bucks’ two All-Stars in check for the quarter, with both Lillard and Antetokounmpo scoring 6 points each in the third frame, which ended with Milwaukee in the lead 96-94.
The game was close throughout, with both teams tightening their perimeter defense in the fourth quarter, as Brooklyn and Milwaukee shot 25% and 20%, respectively, from the 3-point line.
Thomas continued his scoring outburst in the final quarter, dropping 15 points in the quarter, but he went cold at a critical juncture in the game. In crunch time, Thomas could not buy a basket, going 0-4 from the field from the 2:33 mark of the game to the final buzzer.
The loss dropped Brooklyn below .500 for the first time all season, and their 3-4 record puts them in eighth place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. The Nets’ reserve guard Lonnie Walker IV had a solid game with 19 points, while forward Royce O'Neal also came off the bench to score 12 points in a losing effort.
Brooklyn guard Ben Simmons continued his homage to Dennis Rodman by scoring just 2 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
He is currently averaging 6.5 points a game. Five of Brooklyn’s games this season have been decided by 5 points or fewer, with three of those games in the loss column. A slight increase to low double digits in points for Simmons could change the fortunes of the team.
The Nets are currently 1-0 in NBA in-season tournament play, with that victory coming over the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 3. Their next in-season tournament game is on Nov. 10 in Boston, their second meeting with the Boston Celtics this season.
The next home game at Barclays Center is on Nov. 8 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
