NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets took on the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday at Barclays Center and lost 129-125.
For the Nets, Cam Thomas had 45 points and four rebounds while Mikal Bridges had 31 points and four assists. Lonnie Walker IV had 19 points off the bench and Royce O’Neale had 12 points.
For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points and 12 rebounds while Damian Lillard had 21 points and seven assists. Khris Middleton had 15 points and Jae Crowder had 15 points off the bench.
In the first half, Brooklyn quickly found itself in a shootout as not only did Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas get back on track, but Giannis Antetokounmpo was seemingly unstoppable in the paint. The Nets did a good job of limiting the impact of the stars surrounding Antetokounmpo as Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez combined for 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the field.
In the second half, Brooklyn, as they have done for seemingly every game this season, battled Milwaukee to the very end thanks to continued offensive excellence from Thomas and Bridges. In the end, Antetokounmpo was just too much for the Nets to defend and Middleton started making too many shots for Brooklyn to come out on top.
Here are the Nets player grades following Monday’s loss: