NEW YORK (AP) – Giannis Antetokounmpo named a name he knows, one he was prepared to defend with the Brooklyn Nets.
If those guys were there, it wouldn’t have lasted long.
Ultimately, Antetokounmpo and his Milwaukee teammates figured things out against an opponent who had to learn on the fly.
Antetokounmpo had 32 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, Khris Middleton added 27 points and 10 assists, and the Bucks cruised to a 144-122 victory Wednesday night against a Brooklyn team that treated it like a preseason game. Ta.
After winning against Detroit and extending the Pistons’ losing streak to 27, an NBA single-season record, the Nets rested three starters and barely played the other two.
“They competed hard,” Antetokounmpo said. “I don’t know most of them, but I’m sure I’ll learn after today, because they were very, very difficult for us.”
The Nets’ rotation, which includes a number of rookies and players on two-way contracts, fought well in the third quarter before being dumped by the Bucs.
Manager Jacques Vaughn then vehemently denied treating the match like one played in mid-October.
“I have so much respect for athletes who wear suits and put their bodies on the line to compete at a competitive level that I can’t even say the word exhibition,” he said. “Any player could have ended his career tonight with just one play, so I’ll treat it that way. It’s an honor that you do this for a living. And I don’t know, but I’m grateful and I’ll never underestimate it, and you’ll pay for it.”
Cameron Payne and Malik Beasley each made five 3-pointers for the Bucks, who improved to 10-2 in December. They bounced back from one of those losses, a loss to the Knicks on Christmas Day, and finished the three-game series over the holidays in New York with two wins.
Payne had 18 points off the bench, Beasley had 17 points, Bobby Portis had 14 points and the Bucs finished with 23 of their 51 points (45%).
For the Nets, rookie Jalen Wilson had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Trendon Watford scored 17 points, and Dennis Smith Jr. and rookie Noah Clowney each added 14 points.
The Nets rested Spencer Dinwiddie, Nic Claxton and Cam Johnson, and key reserve Dorian Finney-Smith also played the entire fourth quarter on Tuesday.
With the Nets returning from a five-game series in the West a week before Christmas, then wrapping up the second set of the series and heading into four more later this week, Vaughn cited the heavy workload that comes with making his next decision. . He rested his players and said he would “put them at risk” if they didn’t rest.
Mikal Bridges began his streak of consecutive games played, which currently stands at 423, but did not play after the first quarter. So did Brooklyn’s leading scorer, Cam Thomas, who scored 45 points against Milwaukee last month.
Still, Milwaukee led by just one point before going on a 9-2 spurt in the final 1:25 of the third quarter to make it 100-92. Early in the fourth inning, things got wild again, extending the game to 13 points, and the Bucks ended up scoring over 20 points.
“They knew they were undermanned, but I think Jack is doing a phenomenal job there,” Bucs coach Adrian Griffin said. “But we took care of business, so in a game like this, we just have to find a way to win and get ready for Cleveland.”
The Bucks defeated the Nets 44-30 in the fourth inning.
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Bucks: Visit Cleveland on Friday.
Nets: Visit Washington on Friday.