MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo was the star of the game, but in many ways Brook Lopez was the man of the night for the Bucks. And the Nets were left to lick their wounds, both literal and figurative.
The Nets lost Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to an adductor injury, then lost a 129-115 decision to the Bucks that was nowhere near as close as the score sounds.
Antetokounmpo had a triple-double with 31 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, looking like an MVP, which is what the sellout crowd of 17,918 at glistening new Fiserv Forum kept chanting out to him. Lopez had 24 points against the Nets, the team that dealt him away in June 2017, including 18 in a first half that ended with the Nets trailing by 19.
“I was feeling pretty good,” said Lopez, who hit 7-of-15 from 3-point range. “We were having fun out there.”
Lopez is still the Nets’ all-time leading scorer. And in three games against them (including two last season with the Lakers), he has averaged 25.7 points on 55.2 percent shooting from behind the arc. Saturday, he, the “Greek Freak” and Khris Middleton (29 points) helped the Bucks improve their NBA-best record to 25-10.
The Nets (17-21), already without injured Caris LeVert and Allen Crabbe, played their third game in four days — including a double-overtime win Wednesday over the Hornets — so they rested D’Angelo Russell and Ed Davis. One could see this rout coming from a mile away.
The Nets packed the paint to prevent an Antetokounmpo dunk show, but in turn gave up 21-of-51 shooting from behind the arc. They fell behind by 26 in the third quarter, and though the bench rallied behind Shabazz Napier (game and career-high tying 32 points, seven assists) and little-used Kenneth Faried (season-high 21 points, 10 boards), they never challenged.
“I love basketball, so for me to get out there and play with my teammates and be out there in the war — in the thick of it when it really means something — it’s a blessing,” Faried said. “I’ve been working my ass off to basically show coach how I can be out there.”
The Nets, down 109-86 after a three-point play by Antetokounmpo, did reel off 14 unanswered to climb within nine on a 3-pointer by DeMarre Carroll (18 points). Napier made it 116-109 on a floating bank shot with 4:51 left. But after Khris Middleton hit a driving layup, Antetokounmpo scored the Bucks’ next four buckets to pad it back to 126-113 and essentially end the Nets’ hopes.
“[Antetokounmpo] made every shot,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We cut it to seven and they brought him back in the game. He made three or four shots in a row. That’s what a superstar does. When it’s crunch time, when it’s time to close a game out, he did it.”
The Nets don’t play again until Wednesday against the Pelicans at Barclays Center and need to heal up. No update was given on Hollis-Jefferson’s status, but it’s obvious both the idle Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie (10 points, five assists) need a break.
“Yeah, [Dinwiddie] looked a little fatigued,” said Atkinson, who went deep into his bench. “Shabazz stepped up. We’ve relied on Spencer big-time, and D’Angelo, both of them. I definitely see that.”
“You’ve just got to be professional about it” Napier said. “If your number is called, you be ready. If it doesn’t get called, you support. [Saturday], my number was called, [Faried’s] number was called, a bunch of guys’ number was called for a lot of minutes, and we fought to the end.
“The game is never out of hand in the NBA. Tracy McGrady scored 13 points in 32 seconds. … I’ve always understood that pride takes over for myself.… I never allow my opponent to outlast me whether I win or lose. I just try to bring that to the table. [Saturday] we did a great job of that.”
Two-way player Theo Pinson, called up after a triple-double in the G-League (quadruple if one counts turnovers), had six points, seven boards and four assists.