Nets ran out of moments in 118-113 loss to Bucks

The opening half of Nets-Bucks on Sunday at Barclays Center had no shortage of highlight-worthy moments.
In the first quarter, Cam Johnson blocked Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s layup at one end, then drained one of his four 3-pointers at the other, set up by a beautiful Ben Simmons pass that split two Milwaukee defenders.
Nic Claxton crossed up Brook Lopez at the top of the key, with the shot clock running down, and finished at the rim with a two-handed slam. The 6-11 center had multiple blocks in the closing minutes of the second quarter and was playing like a man possessed.
Dennis Schröder poured in 19 points in his first 15 minutes on the court, capped off by a buzzer-beating floater that sent the Nets into the locker room at halftime with a 52-51 advantage. The Bucks had won eight of their last 10 games entering the day, but Brooklyn was putting on a show early and was seemingly unfazed.
“We got a lot of weapons in this locker room,” Schröder said.
However, the Nets needed a few more moments to go their way down the stretch, and they did not, resulting in a heartbreaking 118-113 loss. After building a 12-point lead midway through the third quarter, Milwaukee closed the period on a 17-5 run to tie the game at 86 entering the final frame.
An Antetokounmpo dunk off a Schröder miss gave the Bucks a 111-108 lead with 1:09 left. Cam Johnson could not answer at the other end. But a bad pass by Damian Lillard ended up in the hands of Keon Johnson, and Brooklyn had one last shot to tie the game.
The Nets pushed in transition and the ball found Keon Johnson. The guard took one dribble, then hoisted a heavily-contested 3-pointer that missed off the far side of the rim. If he made it, it would have been the Nets’ moment of the game. Instead, it was the Bucks’ defining stop, as they were able to ice the game from there at the free throw line.
Milwaukee shot 55.6% from the field, 50% from deep, and 62.5% on two-point attempts in the fourth quarter. The moments Brooklyn truly needed down the stretch were stops.
“Our defense was atrocious,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “If our guys that wear a Brooklyn Nets jersey don’t play harder defense, they don’t have a place on our roster… We didn’t guard anybody in the last two minutes.”
Schröder finished with 34 points, three rebounds and 11 assists for Brooklyn, and Cam Johnson added 26 points in a 50.6% team shooting effort. Claxton had his best all-around game of the season with 21 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Antetokounmpo matched Schröder with 34 points of his own in Milwaukee’s 12th win of the season.
“I’m just getting my flow back,” Claxton said. “That’s just me playing more games. My body, everything is just starting to come together. I need to be aggressive for us, especially right now with Cam [Thomas] being out and us missing some scoring.”
The Nets fell to 10-14 and have now lost four of their last five games. Their season series with the Bucks is tied 1-1. They will face Milwaukee two more times this season, both at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2.
Brooklyn will have the next four days off after failing to advance to the knockout rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup. It will return to action on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum.