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Nets on the winning end of a blow out, dropping the Bucks 104-93

By Tom Lorenzo

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Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN - Never a dull moment in Brooklyn these days, eh? First we learn that Andrei Kirilenko would miss his self-imposed return date and not play against the Bucks and, secondly, Jason Kidd announced that Andray Blatche would miss the next four games due to "personal reasons." This followed Adrian Wojnarowski's stinging critique of Kidd (to which Kidd responded, ""I can't answer to what you guys make up. I'm sorry. I don't have an answer to that question.")

Thankfully, the Nets had a 6-win team to contend with. Though, the Bucks had a rather large bullet in their back pocket, as they say, with the return of Larry Sanders to the lineup.  It all, well almost all, worked out in the end with the Nets taking the Bucks, 104-93 for their 10th win of the season.

Brooklyn responded to the mounting adversity early on, working the Bucks inside and countering Milwaukee's length their slight physical advantage. The Nets scored 18 of their 31 first quarter points in the paint, led by Deron Williams and his nine points. They also held the Bucks to 29.2 percent shooting from the floor, taking a 31-18 lead into the second quarter.

It also helped, from there, that the Nets hit their first six three-point attempts, working the inside-outside game perfectly on offense. And five minutes into the second quarter, the Nets lead had climbed to 19 points, as the Nets built a 42-23 lead early in the second. The Bucks, however, made a little run to get back into this one just before the half, pulling to within 11, trailing 48-37 at halftime.

In the third, the Nets strayed form their oh so familiar post-halftime struggles. At least not completely collapsing. The Bucks got as close as 10 points late in the quarter, when Kidd went with a Reggie Evans-Mirza Teletovic-Paul Pierce frontcourt. Defensively, they couldn't do much to stop the Bucks in the paint, but thanks to Jason Terry's stretch shooting, the Nets maintained a double-digit lead heading into the fourth.

Brooklyn opened up the fourth quarter with a 76-60 lead. And even with Williams not being much of a factor since the first quarter -- he didn't score a single point after the first, in 19 minutes of action -- the offense looked good, especially in stretching the floor. Kidd did bring Williams back into the game with the Nets letting the Bucks get to within nine points with three minutes to go.

The Nets, however, were able to close it out and pick up a 104-93 win -- a much needed one -- over the Bucks.

Shaun Livingston scored a game-high 20 points in getting the start at shooting guard. Teletovic went for 19 points off the bench in 32 minutes.

The Nets shot 12-of-26 from beyond the arc and scored 40 points in the paint. They also out-rebounded the Bucks by a 49-43 margin.

Finally, the Nets get back on track, but next up is a tough three-game road trip against three teams with legitimate NBA Finals aspirations.

For more on the Bucks, see: Brew Hoop

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