Bucks 80 Nets 78
MILWAUKEE – It couldn’t happen, could it? The Nets, in the third quarter, despite a shake up in the line up, a slower tempo and a shortened rotation were deader than Julius Caesar. Coach Byron Scott, who had authored all the change, pulled the plug and inserted guys he had no intention of using.
And so the lineup that featured Vladimir Stepania, rookie Stephen Jackson, Evan Eschmeyer on the court with Stephon Marbury, Kendall Gill and Kenyon Martin on the bench, made a near impossible run. The team that once trailed by 28 in the third quarter found themselves tied with under one minute to go.
But they had gotten down way too far and of all their defeats, this one, their third straight, their 13th in 16 games may hurt more than any other because after rising from the grave several times in the final minutes, the Nets went down on Ray Allen’s right side 12-footer at the buzzer, giving the incredibly relieved Bucks an 80-78 victory.
Stephon Marbury (12 points) had nailed a 3-pointer at :05.8 to forge an unlikely 78-78 tie and send the Nets into a one-stop mode. But they couldn’t do it as Allen, who dropped in 16 points, struck to break the hearts of the Nets.
Marbury, who was re-inserted with :28.9 left following an apparent game-winning jumper by Sam Cassell (14 points), saw his shot blocked by Glenn Robinson at :16. And then follies ensued at the free throw line each way as Tim Thomas and Lindsay Hunter for the Bucks and Aaron Williams for the Nets each made one of two. But Milwaukee felt confident with a 78-75 lead and under 10 seconds to go.
Until Marbury got his hands on the ball.
Most folks were turning to the record books checking Net futility numbers. With starters yanked, the game seemed over. But suddenly, in the fourth quarter, with under 6:00 to go, Milwaukee’s lead was under 10 as the Bucks caught the frigid shooting bug that had plagued the Nets.
But it couldn’t matter, could it? Marbury was on the bench and those other guys were on the floor. But incredibly, a flurry of Milwaukee turnovers led to a Stephen Jackson jumper at 3:15 and a Stepania layup at 2:55 got them within two. A Stepania jumper at 1:50 knotted it at 74.
Both sides had chances. Both sides failed before Cassell, giving a little nudge to free himself from Douglas, hit the jumper.
With a wind-chill at minus 30 outside, the Nets’ first half shooting made the elements seem balmy by comparison.
For the first time yesterday, Scott admitted he was angry from what he had seen the night before. For much of last night, it appeared Scott would next be calming down sometime in March. Scott, still seething from the wipeout in Boston, shook up the starting unit, shortened the rotation, slowed the pace but still couldn’t shoot the ball for the Nets whose first half inaccuracies bordered on laughable -they shot 1-of-14 (.071) in the second quarter to top off a 29-point first half. And so with a non-existent offense that challenged every game futility record in a team record book laced with futility, the Nets were down 51-29 entering the third quarter. The giggling stopped in the fourth quarter.
The Nets unveiled a starting lineup that included Marbury and Douglas for the first time this season as Scott instructed his gang to “slow the pace down.” Scott wanted his team to walk it up and look for the good shot.
“It’s totally against what I want to do,” Scott acknowledged. “Let’s see if we can get a good shot every time instead of coming down running random not getting good shots, turning the ball over. I’m not saying it’s going to be different but we’re not winning either. Our bigs aren’t getting out and running.”