B’klyn granted no quarter
MILWAUKEE — The Nets knew their third quarter woes as well as anybody, and changed things up a little bit on Saturday in an attempt to fix the problem. They cut short their time in the locker room to make their second-half warmups longer and more intense.
“We tried to come out earlier and just treat it like the beginning of the game. We tried to get layup lines, get guys more moving and in sync. So we did do something different,’’ Brook Lopez said. “We saw some film, went over it quick and tried to get out. We knew we had a long walk, so we just tried to get out quick and go through layup lines and our pregame routine.”
Though they lost to Milwaukee, 112-103, the Nets were vastly improved in the third quarter. They outscored the Bucks 32-25, just the second time all season they had “won” the third quarter (the other was Nov. 8 versus Minnesota).
“We had a better quarter than the whole year so far, so it’s a step in the right direction,’’ Sean Kilpatrick said. “Just making sure everybody was really just warming up the proper way. We sit there and lax going into the third quarter, as if we’re just chilling in the layup line, then it’s not going to help us. If we stay cold going into the third, and they come out warm, it’s a recipe for disaster.”
It had been a disaster, their 7.6 points per game scoring margin the worst of any NBA team in any period coming into Saturday’s loss.
“We addressed it. We’re just as aware as anybody else. We understand how bad our third quarters have been,’’ Joe Harris said. “We know that sets the tone for the second half. We wanted to come out and make a point of trying to not let that third quarter impact the rest of the game and dig a hole.”
The Nets are waiting to see if Houston matches their four-year, $37 million offer sheet to restricted free agent Donatas Motiejunas.
The Nets front-loaded the deal that could pay Motiejunas up to $9.8 million this season with incentives. But apparently just $5 million is fully guaranteed. On Jan. 10 when all NBA deals are guaranteed, Motiejunas gets another $3.5 million, and on March 1 there is a team option for the second year at $9 million.
The last two years are non-guaranteed.