Nets crush Bucks without Jordi Fernández, winning 127-82

Even without Jordi Fernández, the Nets put up a high score in Big Buck Hunter tonight.

Returning home for their second game of alternate programming to NBA Cup, Brooklyn secured their most dominant win of the season. Correction! the most dominant win in franchise history! It was also the first career head coaching win for Steve Hetzel, who had to fill in for Fernández, who sat out with the flu.

Before the game, Hetzel explained that he wanted to embody an extension of what Fernández preaches above all else. On a night where the Nets dominated from deep, pressured the ball, and won when they probably shouldn’t have, he couldn’t have done a better job.

“The main message is just an extending message of what Jordi always talks about: being competitive, selfless, and connected out on the basketball floor,” he said post-game. “In this five-game series, we’re 2-2 with the opportunity to go 3-2 after tonight. It would be our first time to win a five-game series, so that’s our goal.”

Fernández’s extended presence could be felt from the jump. After a poor performance on Friday, the coach publicly criticized and challenged Egor Dëmin and didn’t exactly praise fellow rookie Drake Powell. Dëmin, even with Fernández unable to see it in person, was ready to show his coach he could do better. The eighth overall pick last June made all four of his opening period shots, including a triple off a screen which got the scoring started for Brooklyn. Even with Myles Turner lurking, he also managed to put some pressure on the rim…

“Very, very proud of him,” Hetzel said of Dëmin’s response. “You know, [Fernandez] challenged Egor, he challenged Drake, and they both responded beautifully with an edge…You got to be quick to forget about the last one. Move on and play better.”

“I mean, I didn’t have much lost games in my life,” Dëmin said. “You know, coming from Moscow to Spain, there were a couple of big ones, but in general, I’ve been in a really winning team. It’s always been kind of hurting when we’re losing some big games, or whatever it is. In Spain, in three years, I lost probably three games, and all of them were big. There were two Finals, the national championship, so it’s obviously been always hurting a lot.

“In college, I had to really learn how to go over those bad games, or even sometimes when we win, but I’m not good with my performance, or when we lost. But again, it’s so many games. College was when I started learning about it, and coaches, obviously KY [Kevin Young, the BYU head coach], he’s like, ‘Man, you got to go on to the next one.’ You can’t really just stay with whatever happened yesterday.”

As Dëmin aimed to turn things around, Michael Porter Jr. looked to maintain course. The Nets’ latest forward flourishing in an expanded opportunity here in Brooklyn gave us five first period points along with three assists. He only finished with 12 points tonight, but his teammates had his back, which became a defining theme for the team in this game.

“Normally, Mike has been carrying us offensively, and then you see how spread out the points are amongst the group,” Hetzel said. “I don’t think anybody that stepped on the court played poorly. Complete team effort, totally focused.” …for the whole contest, but especially in the first,

Day’Ron Sharpe had both arms extended to help carry the offensive load. He led everyone with nine points in the opening quarter, finding ample success in the pick-and roll-whether being set up by Drake Powell or Tyrese Martin off the bench.

Between those three, the Nets put up 37 first period points and led Milwaukee by double digits going into the second. They posted 63/50 splits in the quarter and their 15 made field goals represented a first-quarter season high. The frame wasn’t without a few sloppy sequences, which were to be expected from a young team missing its skipper, but Brooklyn found a way to turn enough of them in their favor.

The Nets inflated their lead to 18 early in the second and got it as large as 19. While continuing to shoot well, they also forced six Buck turnovers in the frame which gave them eight extra points.

Indeed, the Nets were five seconds away from going into halftime without a single player reaching double digit points, as Nic Claxton got 10 right before the buzzer. The balanced attack saw six Nets contribute with eight or more points in the first half. It was the first time they did that since February 2024 in Memphis. It put the Nets in front by a 65-48 score.

Milwaukee, playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo tonight (and perhaps forever) looked like a team missing its best player. Aside from their loose grip on the rock, they struggled to create out of their offensive sets, often relying on Kyle Kuzma or Kevin Porter Jr. to create in isolation. Kuz led all scorers at the break with 13 points after shooting 6-10 from the field. He and Ryan Rollins were the only Bucks with more than two made field goals in the half.

But against tall odds, the Bucks were even worse at the other end. I’d say their wing defenders were like turnstiles, but even those occasionally don’t pick up your card and keep you from passing through.

So, after seeing these deer-in-their-headlights moments during the first half, the Nets floored it in the second, going up by as many as 29 in the next period. They got 10 more points off turnovers in the third and canned four triples in the frame’s first five minutes as Clowney and Dëmin took turns spraying Milwaukee from deep. Brooklyn went on to shoot 7-of-14 from three in the frame. In doing so, they matched Milwaukee’s total number of made threes for the game by that point.

By the time we reached the fourth, the Nets were up 99-71, and the game had lost its competitive appeal. However, what it lacked in entertainment was made up for by rookie intrigue. Perhaps the best part about Brooklyn’s massive lead was that it allowed us to see Nolan Traoré at length for the first time all season.

The second pick of the Flatbush Five has spent most of the year on Long Island, but came in tonight with nine minutes to go. He never got into the scoring column, but helped others do so, tallying three assists in nine minutes.

“I just like his confidence,” Hetzel said of Traore. “When he was assigned to Long Island, he spent some time down there, and he did really, really well. His numbers were great. The team played well, and you can see a different player. So just that game experience, playing against NBA style basketball with Long Island, we have a great staff down in Long Island that coaches in the same as we do here, and you could just see his confidence at a much different level than last time he played.”

In the process, Brooklyn’s lead boiled into the 40s. What looked like an old fashioned blowout eventually turned into an embarrassment to basketball on Milwaukee’s behalf. At one point, The Nets were up 125-82 with 2:26 to play and Jericho Sims thought it’d be a good idea to try and dribble the ball through his defender’s legs. He ended up just tossing it out of bounds. The ball nicked Ziaire Williams’ calf, so he managed to avoid committing what would have been his team’s 21st turnover of the evening, but couldn’t escape the moment’s awkwardness.

Dëmin ended up leading the Nets with 17 points after shooting 6-of-8 from the field and 2-of-4 from deep. He also came up with two steals. Clowney followed with 16 points after going 4-8 from deep. Martin added 14 points, going 5-of-8 from the field and 4-of-8 from deep. Between their scoring contributions and those of and Sharpe (13), Powell (13) Mann (12), while Williams (10), Claxton (10), and Wolf (10), the Nets had nine guys to reach double figures. Indeed, much of fourth saw four rookies, everyone but the bed-ridden Saraf, on the floor. For the game, they put up 50 points.

Hetzel? He got an ice bath post game…

But he still gave all the credit to Fernández and his fellow assistant coaches.

“It feels good, but it’s really, you know, we’re all an extension of Jordi, and everything that he’s done,” he said. “The way they played in his absence just shows how much they care about playing for him. And then the entire staff, you know, Jay Hernandez was in the huddle, drawing up ATOs. He works the offensive side of the ball. Juwan, helping with the subs, Dutch on the bench, and everybody behind. We have a tremendous, tremendous staff. And the best thing about everyone that works here is that everybody’s got an ego in terms of their confidence, but they have zero ego to rock the boat in a negative way.”

For anyone on tank watch and upset with the win, just know it could always be worse. The guys the Nets played tonight can’t be feeling better. They’re really trying to win, and in the process, convince the only guy keeping them relevant that he shouldn’t jump ship. They did a horrible job at it tonight, too.

While it’s five years too late, and not in the way we all want, the Nets might’ve finally defeated the entity that is “Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.”

“It’s awesome just just to be a part of this group,” Hetzel concluded. “Jordi and I are like brothers, or I view him like a brother. When he asked me to come work for him, I said absolutely. But this win is more of a reflection of everything that everybody on the staff does, and it’s fun to win. It’s fun to play well. I’m glad that we got it for Jordi.”

Final: Brooklyn Nets 127, Milwaukee Bucks 82

Injury Report

As mentioned, Jordi Fernández missed tonight’s game with an illness which we later learned to be the flu. Despite his absence, Hetzel made it seem like the coach is doing as well as you could under those circumstance.

“He’s doing well,” Hetzel said pregame. “He calls himself a specimen. He tested positive for the flu, but he has no fever. So he feels good. I talked to him this morning. I saw him, he was in here. He was in good spirits, but I think it was best for him to just get some rest.”

Ben Saraf also missed tonight with and undisclosed illness.

Milestone Watch

The Nets had nine players score at least 10 points in tonight’s win — tied for the most in franchise history (happened three times prior: 12/21/22 vs. GSW, 1/29/21 at OKC, 4/8/84 vs. CLE).

In the win, Brooklyn had six players record at least a +20 or better: Drake Powell (+31), Ziaire Williams (+28), Danny Wolf (+26), Tyrese Martin (+25), Nic Claxton (+23) and Egor Dëmin (+20). It was the fourth time in franchise history that at least six players have done so and the first time since their franchise-record seven on 3/15/22 at ORL in a 150-108 victory.

Brooklyn tied their largest win in franchise history tonight with a 45-point (127-82) victory over Milwaukee (124-79 win over Washington on 1/9/93). It was their second most points of the season and fewest points allowed since November 2018 at Phoenix.

The Nets shot 52.9% (45-85) FG, a season-high 44.2% (19-43) 3PT and 18-19 (94.7%) FT. It is their first time shooting 50-40-90 as a team in a win since 11/27/24 at Phoenix.

Brooklyn’s 37 points in the first quarter tonight against Milwaukee tied their most in an opening frame this season (11/2 vs PHI)

Whew!

Next Up

The Nets will get their first crack at the Miami Heat this year on Thursday evening after three days off. At the time of writing, Miami holds the east’s eighth best record at 14-11, having lost four straight. He won’t suit up, but it’ll be Haywood Highsmith’s first game against his former team.

Nets crush Bucks without Jordi Fernández, winning 127-82

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