Nets surprise league-best Bucks
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. » All the Brooklyn Nets were missing Tuesday were their leaders in salary, points, points per game, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and 3-pointers. If that wasn’t enough, the feel-good story of Jamal Crawford’s return to the NBA lasted for about six minutes. And they won.
The severely undermanned Nets beat Milwaukee 119-116 on Tuesday, temporarily delaying what will be the Bucks’ clinching of the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Bucks didn’t use Brook Lopez or Wesley Matthews, plus didn’t play All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo or Khris Middleton after halftime, though it should be noted the Nets were winning at intermission anyway.
Who the Bucks played or didn’t play wasn’t relevant to the Nets. The walls of the temporary locker rooms at the Visa Athletic Center are paper thin and don’t hold sound, but the Nets probably didn’t mind that anyone within 100 feet could have heard their raucous postgame celebration.
“Very big for us, for our confidence,” Brooklyn’s Garrett Temple said.
Depending on which sports book you looked at, the Nets were either 18.5- or 19-point underdogs.
The reasons were obvious: The Bucks have the best record in the NBA, while the Nets are under .500, gave Joe Harris, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert
— their best three players in the bubble
— the day off for various reasons and trotted out a starting lineup on Tuesday that nobody had ever seen before.
This was Brooklyn’s starting five: Temple, Tyler Johnson, Lance Thomas, Rodions Kurucs and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot. Before Tuesday, that Nets lineup had played zero seconds together this season. None.
Nets coach Jacque Vaughn has been telling his team about momentum, reminding them that fortunes can sometimes turn around quickly. There’s no lamenting about the players who aren’t here — Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan and more. He’s telling the Nets to work with what they have.
“We’ll try to keep things in perspective,” Vaughn said. “Same conversation we had after our first scrimmage here ... each day, we’ll take it, process it, see what happens and reload and do it again. We won’t complicate this thing.”
MAVERICKS 114, KINGS 110
Luka Doncic punctuated a tripledouble by making the tiebreaking shot with 1:57 left in overtime and leading Dallas past Sacramento. Doncic was sensational, finishing with 34 points, a career-high 20 rebounds and 12 assists. SUNS 117, CLIPPERS 115
Devin Booker made a turnaround jumper over Paul George as time expired, capping a 35-point performance and giving the Phoenix Suns a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.