Here are three thoughts on the Nets’ 103-97 loss to the Bucks Monday night in Milwaukee:
1. Deron Williams looks lost.
There’s no other way to describe the state of Williams’ game after he went scoreless and missed all five shots he took – he also had four assists and four turnovers –in Monday’s loss, making him 0-for-13 from the field in his last two games and 2-for-22 in his last three. He hasn’t made a shot since the first quarter of Friday’s win over the Knicks.
Williams missed shootaround Monday because of an illness, but said after the game he was fine and it wasn’t an issue. Still, he couldn’t do anything right. In one particularly bad stretch at the end of the third quarter, he missed a 3-pointer, a layup, threw a bad pass that resulted in an easy Khris Middleton layup and another that led to a Zaza Pachulia jumper.
After the game, Williams seemed despondent. Lionel Hollins said he felt bad for the point guard “because he’s trying and it’s just not happening.”
That’s definitely one way to describe it. No one should be happier this team has a game Tuesday night than Williams, and the Nets will be hoping he knocks down some shots and gives himself something positive to think about heading into the 10-day All-Star break.
2. Both Hollins and the players referenced the same problem: Before the game, the coach stressed the Nets couldn’t have any stretches where they stopped scoring. The Bucks, he reasoned, would keep coming, and wouldn’t have a similar stretch.
Hollins was exactly right. After a sensational opening 16 minutes, in which the Nets shot about 70 percent from the field and took a 41-24 lead, they stopped scoring, and the Bucks stormed back, taking the lead in the third quarter.
What happened? The Nets seemed to be overwhelmed by Milwaukee’s length and athleticism on the perimeter. With guys such as Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo patrolling the wings – both of whom are quick, with arms that go on for days – the Bucks swallow up passing lanes and step in front of passes that once seemed open.
3. Another night, another example of why the Mason Plumlee-Brook Lopez center tandem is a problem.
Both players were productive – Plumlee had 13 points, eight boards and three assists in 27:30, while Lopez had 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 20:30 – but because Hollins doesn’t like to play them together, the Nets can’t get either one on the court as much as they would like.
More than any reason, this is why a Lopez trade before next week’s deadline makes sense. But the Nets can’t make a move for the return packages they were getting offered a few weeks ago when Lopez nearly went to Oklahoma City.
Given how well Lopez has played of late, they likely will get better offers. If they get offered a couple of athletic wings, it seems Lopez will wind up elsewhere, which would allow Plumlee to play more minutes.
