With Jordi Fernández sidelined by the flu and Steve Hetzel stepping in, the Nets put together one of their most balanced efforts of the season, beating the shorthanded Milwaukee Bucks into submission 127-82 on Sunday at Barclays Center. The win pushed Brooklyn to 7-18 and marked its fourth victory in the last six games.
And driving a win that tied the largest margin in franchise history was the No. 8 pick, delivering the kind of response his head coach publicly challenged him to show two nights earlier in Dallas, finishing with a team-high 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting to go with three rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes.
Brooklyn certainly remembered the last meeting. Milwaukee handled the Nets 116-99 on Nov. 29, a night when they didn’t have Michael Porter Jr. and the Bucks were closer to full strength. This time, with Giannis Antetokounmpo out, Brooklyn had a chance to flip the script.
Egor Demin made sure they did. Days after Fernández asked him to raise his level at both ends, the rookie came out with his most assertive start of the season. He opened 4-for-4 with nine points in seven minutes, foul trouble and all, and his early burst helped Brooklyn build a 37-25 lead after one.
Brooklyn’s 37 points marked their highest-scoring first quarter of the season, and the 15 made field goals were also a season high, coming on 62.5% shooting.
The Nets pushed their lead to 19 in the second quarter, doing so on a night when Michael Porter Jr. wasn’t carrying the scoring load. Milwaukee trimmed the gap to 11 with 3:39 left before halftime, but after a timely Hetzel timeout, Brooklyn reset and answered with a 13-7 run to regain full control.
Balance told the story. Six different players reached at least eight points in the first half, led by Nic Claxton’s 10, their most in any opening half since last February in Memphis. The 65 points were a new season high before the break, and the 17-point cushion marked their second-largest halftime lead of the year.
The Nets then outscored Milwaukee 34-23 in the third, getting 14 points from Noah Clowney in the period and another eight from Demin. Brooklyn went 7-for-14 from deep and held the Bucks to 40.9% shooting, and the 28-point hole Milwaukee faced entering the fourth might’ve been even larger if Gary Trent Jr. hadn’t poured in 13 points. Only five other Bucks scored in the quarter, and none had more than three.
Brooklyn’s cushion through three quarters was its largest in the past two seasons. Both coaches emptied their benches at the 9:24 mark, and the Nets’ lead eventually ballooned to 37 with 6:17 left. Brooklyn closed with rookies Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell and Danny Wolf, along with Jalen Wilson.
Nine Nets reached double figures, including all five starters for only the second time this season. It was also the fewest points Brooklyn has allowed since 2018, and the bench added 60 more to round out the performance.
Trent led the Bucks with 20 points.
Brooklyn will return to Barclays Center on Thursday to face the Miami Heat.
