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Bucks at Nets: In Jason Kidd's return to Brooklyn, the Bucks stun the Nets in Triple OT thriller, 122-118.

By Anthony Puccio

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Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN -- It was back on November 3rd when that Mikhail Prokhorov passed a deliberate comment Jason Kidd's way by saying, "there is a nice proverb in English; don't let the door hit you where the good Lord has split you." That was said a few weeks ago, but it was just a year ago that the Nets former point guard was hired as coach for the Brooklyn franchise, a rather "sexy" hire that turned sour. Still, despite the hype surrounding Jason Kidd on the wintry Wednesday night in Brooklyn, the Nets had a game to play -- and a game they absolutely needed to win. They were losers of four straight and stood two games back of Kidd and the Milwaukee Bucks.

It was a back and forth game for most of the way, but after an abundance of wild events late in the game, the Nets and Bucks saw their closely contested battle end in Milwaukee's favor, 122-118. In the first overtime, the score was all knotted up when Joe Johnson committed a deadly turnover to Brandon Knight, who proceeded to miss a wide open layup as time expired.

In the second overtime, Johnson had a chance to end the game at the buzzer, but he missed a contested shot and the game was headed to a third overtime. And finally, in the third overtime, the Bucks outscored Brooklyn 10-6 and prevailed, despite turning the ball over with 17 seconds left, up two.

After the game, Joe Johnson commented on the tough defense from Milwaukee:

"It was tough. I thought we had moments where we could have gotten great looks. We were moving the ball and getting what we wanted, especially in pick-and-rolls. They started doubling the pick-and-rolls, and that made it a little tough. It was really challenging at the end because we had to play one-on-one basketball since we were faking the screens. They played great defense, and I give them credit."

The Nets once again failed to execute, further bringing us to the idea that, well, the good teams find ways to win games. They're losers of five straight and they've seen their 4-2 record transform into 4-7 in the matter of two weeks.

The numbers: Brooklyn finished the game having shot 48% from the field, while once again shooting a very poor 9-of-31(29%) from three. They also committed 22 turnovers which led to 25 points for Milwaukee. However, the Nets' defense held the Bucks to just 21% shooting from three and 44% overall, but it was the 16 offensive rebounds and 28 second chance points for the Bucks that ultimately won them the game.

Top performers for Brooklyn: Brook Lopez followed up on his poor night against Miami with a big effort in this one. He finished with 26 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and one steal on 11-of-19 shooting. He also committed an abysmal seven turnovers. Next in line was Joe Johnson who scored 18 points and eight assists on 7-of-15 shooting, while Deron Williams had a relatively quiet first half after scoring just four points, but ended up finishing the game with 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Following a big 22-point outburst in Monday night's loss, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points and seven rebounds on 7-of-16 shooting.

Coming off the bench, it was Mirza Teletovic who scored 13 of his 14 total points in the second half, despite shooting 1-of-7 from three. It was the same story for Jarrett Jack who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds with 11 of his points coming in the first half.

Top performers for Milwaukee: Second overall pick, Jabari Parker, led the way for Milwaukee with 23 points and seven rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting. O.J. Mayo also had himself a night with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Giannis Antetokounmpo chipped in a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Brandon Knight also contributed 16 points and eight assists.

Minute restriction?: Deron Williams -- 52 minutes; Joe Johnson -- 52 minutes; Bojan Bogdanovic -- 46 minutes; Brook Lopez -- 44 minutes.

Quarter by quarter summary:

This game started a bit different than most, thanks to the drama surrounding Jason Kidd's return. The moment that the former Nets' coach walked out of the team tunnel, Nets nation let their frustrations be known with a loud reign of "boo's" from all over the Barclays Center.

Another game, another hot start for Bojan Bogdanovic. The sharp-shooting Croatian entered tonight's matchup as the NBA's leader among rookies in three-pointers made and three-point field goal percentage. He finished the first quarter with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting and 2-of-2 from three. Along with Bogdanovic, Brook Lopez started off on a positive note, despite struggling the past two games. Lopez finished with eight as well on 4-of-8 shooting. It was a rather back and forth opening quarter, with very little offensive outbursts for either team.

The Nets led, 24-22.

A very familiar flaw haunted the Nets throughout the half: rebounding. The Bucks held a small advantage of 21-19 off the glass, but it was their eight offensive boards which led to 13 second chance points that hurt. The Nets on the other hand, grabbed two offensive boards and scored two second chance points. It's extremely disheartening for them to play good defense during the span of the 24-second shot clock, just to surrender another offensive rebound and eventual put back.

However, their defense held the Bucks to a dreadful 0-of-7 from three, while shooting an overall of 41%.

Jarrett Jack checked into the game and provided instant offense for Brooklyn. Jack finished the half leading all scorers with 11 points and five rebounds on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting. Jack has now scored in double figures in four straight games. Behind Jack's lead, the Nets as a whole outscored Milwaukee 25-19 in the second quarter, and shot 57% from the field. Their three-point shooting continued to be off (2-of-9), but their 28-18 scoring advantage in the paint was the equalizer.

The score at the half: Nets 49, Bucks 41.

It was the same story in the third for the Nets; They controlled the game, but failed to completely run away with it when the opportunities were available. The Bucks continue to control the offensive glass, finishing with 18 second chance points. Brandon Knight scored seven points in the quarter for a total of 11 on the night, while rookie Jabari Parker was having himself a day with 17 points on the night.

They outscored Brooklyn 28-23 with the score at 72-69 in favor of Brooklyn. Brook Lopez finished the third quarter with 10 points and a total of 18 on the night. With Lopez, Mirza Teletovic somewhat rediscovered his touch in the third, scoring eight points but shot a horrid 1-of-7 from three.

Jason Kidd's young team came ready to play, and it was going to be an intense fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was everything you could hope for in a hyped-up game such as this one. The Nets and Bucks were going back and forth with buckets, while Brooklyn and Milwaukee were all knotted up with 30 seconds remaining.

It was Brooklyn's game to lose, as they had possession with a differential of five seconds on the shot clock. While you'd assume the shot would go to the most clutch player in the league, Joe Johnson, it was a contested, last-second three-point attempt for Kevin Garnett. The game was tied, and it was Bucks ball with 4.7 seconds remaining.

O.J. Mayo drew two Brooklyn defenders as time was expiring. He forced up a shot that was off right, and free basketball was coming to Brooklyn.

OT:

Extra time of basketball is always nerve-wracking. The Nets knew they needed this game, and with big night's from their top stars, they knew this was still their game to lose.

Joe Johnson took the initiative late in the game, as he usually does, scoring five minutes within the last two minutes of the game, essentially being the main source of offense for the Nets. Still, the Bucks wouldn't hold up their fight. The Nets were up 105-103 with 21 seconds remaining, but the Bucks drew a foul and nailed both free throws. The score was 105-105 with 21 seconds remaining. Was it Joe 'Jesus' time?

Plot twist: As Joe Johnson proceeded to make his move, he turned the ball over to Brandon Knight. Knight stormed his way down the court as time was coming to a close. Knight made his move and blew a wide open layup! More free basketball in Brooklyn, 105-105 being the score.

Double OT:

The fatigue was set for both teams in the double overtime. Both were rather slow but the Nets had possession and a three point lead with one minute remaining. With that possession, the Nets once again squandered a big opportunity as they turned the ball over that was topped off with a layup from Antetokounmpo with 36 seconds remaining.

The Nets went up 112-109 with 24 seconds following a huge jump shot from Jarrett Jack at the top of the key. On the next possession, Brandon Knight nailed a three with 19.6 seconds remaining. Once again, it was a tie ball game and the Nets ball. You really can't make this stuff up.

Once again, the Nets went to Joe Johnson. Johnson worked his way towards the free throw line, but forced a contested shot that ended up being an air-ball. A third overtime was on it's way.

Triple OT:

The Nets were once again stagnant with their offense in the third overtime. Of course fatigue continued to play a factor, but the Bucks and their young legs seemed to be coping just fine. The score was 120-118 in the Bucks favor, when Bojan Bogdanovic missed an open three which landed in the arms of Antetokounmpo with 17 seconds remaining. Just as things looked to be going south for Brooklyn, the Bucks committed a five second violation, which led to the famous call of the Nets PA Announcer David Diamante... "BROOKLYN BALL", down two.

Deron Williams beautifully penetrated towards the paint, kicked it out to an open Johnson for a mid-range corner pop. Johnson missed, and with a pair of free throws from Milwaukee, another Nets loss was inevitable.

Final score: Bucks 122, Nets 118.

The Brooklyn Nets will go up against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Friday at 8:00pm.

For more on the Milwaukee Bucks, check them out at Brew Hoop.

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