The Milwaukee Bucks overcome slow start to beat the Brooklyn Nets and improve to 3-0

The Milwaukee Bucks improved to 3-0 with a 110-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets (1-3) Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum, with the Bucks taking advantage of one of the worst defensive teams in the early portion of the season to overcome a slow shooting start. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 43 points and Bobby Portis had 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench while the Nets were paced by Kevin Durant (33 points) and Kyrie Irving (27).

Here are some key takeaways from the game against the Nets:

Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Kevin Durant

Teams win championships but individuals move the needle in the NBA and Wednesday night was a showcase event on the nationally televised ESPN game with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant taking the court. The pair rarely actually go head-to-head on offense or defense, but all eyes were on two of the top 75 players in league history.

Despite the haggard feel to the game, neither disappointed. Antetokounmpo made up for a slow first half to finish with 43 points while Durant led the Nets with 33. Antetokounmpo carried his team back from a 12-point third quarter deficit by scoring 17 points in the third and fourth quarters.

“I mean, that’s vintage Giannis,” Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “That’s probably about the best – he’s had a lot of great performances – tonight that second half, he did everything. He was phenomenal.”

Antetokounmpo admitted that after a 3-for-10 start to the game, he wanted to take it to the Nets in the second.

“I tried to be aggressive,” Antetokounmpo said. “I tried to find my teammates but just my main focus was get in the paint. I wanted to get into the paint and after that trust my instinct that I’m going to be right, if it’s going to be a pass or it’s going to be me trying to finish.”

Durant scored 33 points on 10-of-23 shooting and 12 of 13 free throws. He also had six rebounds and three assists while blocking two shots.

Box Score:Bucks 110, Nets 99

Antetokounmpo provided the key highlights however, playing bully ball against Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton, Day’Ron Sharpe and Royce O’Neale on his way to 28 points in the paint. The two-time MVP essentially got whatever he wanted inside in the decisive second half. Durant, however, was hassled throughout by Jrue Holiday and Wesley Matthews (along with others) and had his poster attempt on Brook Lopez denied by the rim and the Bucks center’s stout defense.

Bucks make it tough on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving

Yes, it was a small sample size, but heading into Wednesday’s game Irving (28%) and Durant (33.3%) had not opened the season shooting it well from behind the three-point line.

The Bucks have been emphasizing limiting threes and contesting the ones that are shot – but the Nets all-stars could easily test that desire. But the Bucks were disciplined, with Durant going just 1-for-4 and Irving 0-for-7 from distance.

Much like in the season opener in Philadelphia – and their former teammate James Harden – Durant and Irving were able to get their points, but they had to work hard for them in contested two-point areas. Irving was just 9 for 21 from the field.

“You know where the ball is going to go – it’s either Kyrie is going to get it or ‘KD’ down the stretch,” Antetokounmpo said. “They’re going to try and make a move. I think Wesley and Jrue, guys that was guarding those players, they just made it tough on them. We didn’t want them to pass the ball as much. We wanted them to do it by themselves. I feel like whenever they are in the mindset of moving the ball and getting everybody involved, it just makes it tougher for us. Then everybody gets going.”

Steve Nash ejected

Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash had to be restrained by his coaches and players with 4 minutes, 24 seconds left in the third quarter, leading to his ejection.

A Wesley Matthews missed three-pointer sent a long rebound to the opposite side of the Nets bench, which Kevin Durant tracked down in front of Bobby Portis. Nash was then hit with a second technical after tracking the official downcourt. The ejection saw Nash lose his temper. It was his first ejection as a head coach.

“I was just standing up for our guys,” Nash said. “I thought Patty (Mills) took a forearm in the throat from Giannis right in front of the ref. I didn’t feel that was fair. I don’t think I was overly demonstrative. I was upset I got the technical.”

Bucks looked stuffed on home cooking

The Bucks are now a third of the way through their longest homestand of the season, which came after just one road game and featured two off days in the front end and now tumbles toward three games in the next five nights.

Bobby Portis and George Hill didn’t seem to mind the early home stretch with Hill joking it meant they might be somewhere warmer when it started snowing. Serge Ibaka shrugged. Head coach Mike Budenholzer wasn’t as much of a fan, largely because it means those road games have to come sooner or later (i.e. 10 road games in December) in an extended period.

But, Budenholzer did acknowledge there was a benefit to have a “real” practice with healthy players on Monday afternoon and then the team backed it up with individual work Tuesday. And, playing at Fiserv Forum is never a bad thing – with the win over Brooklyn, Milwaukee is now 215-96 for a league-best 61.9% mark at home since 2018.

The Bucks were not sharp in the first half, however, turning it over eight times and making just 34.7% (17 for 49) of their shots. They also committed two defensive three second penalties. On the whole, it wasn’t a great offensive night for the Bucks, but Portis had it going throughout on an 8-of-14 shooting night for 20 points and Antetokounmpo shook off the rust in the second half.

Three-point turnaround

The Bucks came out with frozen fingers, beginning the game 0 for 8 from behind the three-point line before hitting three straight. But then they finished the half just 1 for 11 from behind the arc for a poor 4-for-22 (18.2%) effort.

On the defensive end, the Bucks were unable to contain Royce O’Neale from distance in the first half. The career 38% shooter from behind the three-point line made four of his five triples in the first half. The rest of the Nets were just 2 for 6, but in a sluggish opening 24 minutes in which points were at a premium, O’Neale’s 12 points were the difference in the Nets taking a 55-43 lead.

Milwaukee didn’t make many more in the second half (four) but it did clamp down defensively as the Nets only made one more three-pointer.

“It’s a work in progress,” Budenholzer said. “We just gotta stay focused. I’m sure there’s going to be bumps in the road, but the guys are locked in. They’re trying to execute for us defensively.”

Five numbers

6 Straight victories by the Bucks over the Nets when Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant play, dating back to the 2021 playoffs.

13 Blocks through the first three games of the season by Brook Lopez after recording six swats against the Nets.

22 / 117 Fouls in minutes played for Nets all-star defender Ben Simmons through four games this season. He has fouled out twice.

18.2 Three-point shooting percentage by the Bucks in the first half (4 for 22).

51 Total personal fouls (46) and technical fouls (five) called in the game.

Play of the game

Brook Lopez’s block on Royce O’Neale

This is more indicative of Lopez and the Bucks’ entire fourth quarter effort on the Nets, but Lopez recorded his fifth block of the game on an O’Neale drive at the 9:17 mark of the fourth quarter and the Bucks up 86-83. The Nets would not score again until 4:37 remained, and in that stretch Lopez had another block. Milwaukee had its own issues scoring, but Lopez cleaning up the interior and the rest of the team hustling on defense had the Nets scrambling just to get shots up.

“Trying to be attached as one on defense, moving our feet,” Bobby Portis said of the defensive effort in the fourth quarter. “Defense comes down to talking. Brook does a hell of a job of being a center, talking to everybody. He told me get out, he’ll be the center, he’ll be the MIG (most important guy). Obviously we have guys that talk and interact and that’s what defense is all about, being on one cord, being on one string. When someone breaks down, someone helps that guy and another guy helps the guy that helped the guy that got broke down. I think we were all on one page.”

Videos of the game

Ben Simmons and Kevin Durant hurt running into Giannis

Giannis Antetokounmpo is officially listed at 7-feet and 243 pounds, and it’s clear that he is a very strong person. Ben Simmons and Kevin Durant are each listed at 6-10 and 240 pounds. They are not small humans, either. But Simmons appeared to have tweaked his surgically repaired back after getting tangled with Antetokounmpo on a drive…

And then Durant immediately grabbed his left shoulder in pain after taking a check from Antetokounmpo as he crossed the paint.

When do the Bucks play next?

The Milwaukee Bucks host the New York Knicks at Fiserv Forum on Friday night at 7 p.m. It is the first of three meetings on the year between the teams and the Bucks have won three straight over the Knicks.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The Milwaukee Bucks overcame a slow start to beat the Brooklyn Nets