It IS Rocket science to beat Bucks
The Nets beat the Bucks in a stunner, but they didn’t do so without first gathering some intel. In fact, Tuesday’s upset over the best team in basketball unearthed what could become a trend: Players can trade secrets with one another now that they’re in such close proximity in the Orlando bubble.
The Nets happen to stay in the same hotel as the Rockets, a notably undersized team that handed Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks a loss on Sunday. The Rockets won, 120-116.
The Nets’ score? One-point off: 119116.
It’s not a coincidence. Nets veteran guard Garrett Temple said he and some of his teammates spoke to some Rockets players by the pool outside of their team hotel.
“We told them we’re playing Milwaukee and asked them for things that they did so they beat them, and obviously they’re very undersized and they gave us a few tips and we took that to heart,” Temple said. “I think our pace offensively, the way we shared the ball and that group two really helped us get settled on the defensive end to get enough stops to win.”
The Nets and Rockets, in effect, have tested a game plan to stop the Bucks. The pointers the Nets got from the Rockets, guard Chris Chiozza said, echoed interim coach Jacque Vaughn’s sentiments.
“They just told us the same thing that coach told us. They’re gonna give up a lot of 3s. You’ve just got to be ready to take them and knock them down. We missed some but you can’t stop shooting. That’s what we did,” said Chiozza, who finished with 10 points and 10 assists. “We had a stretch where we had missed a couple open shots. We didn’t let that bother us.”
The Nets attempted 57 threes against the Bucks and made 21 of them. The Rockets attempted 61, and also made 21.
The Nets also went to a zone, making it nearly impossible for Milwaukee to cleanly get the ball to Antetokounmpo near the paint. The reigning MVP finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists and Khris Middleton shot 3-of-8 from the field for eight points, but Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer opted against playing either of his All-Stars in the second half.
The Bucks were without starters Brook Lopez and Wesley Matthews, but the Nets notably missed Caris LeVert, Joe Harris and Jarrett Allen, the team’s three best players given their shorthanded status in the Orlando bubble.