E.J. Liddell scored 21 points to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 96-90 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
It was the second win in a row for Brooklyn and third in its last five contests. Ben Saraf added 19 points while Malachi Smith and Drake Powell each scored 11.
AJ Green led the Bucks with 20 points on six 3-pointers (6-for-12). Taurean Prince scored 16 points with 11 rebounds while Cormac Ryan added 14. Jericho Sims tallied 12 points, eight boards and six assists, and Ousmane Dieng had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Both teams were quite short-handed, with lengthy injury reports. That included Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose battle with the Bucks continues as he claims he wants to and is healthy enough to play and the Bucks have yet to clear him to play amid an ongoing NBA investigation.
In a game that was competitive throughout, the Nets won a tight first quarter 30-29. The Bucks shot 11 of 17 from the floor and 6 of 11 from deep but committed six turnovers to assist the Nets.
The second was not quite the same. Milwaukee shot just 1 for 12 from deep and 6 for 21 from the floor, leading to just 14 points. Though Brooklyn wasn’t much better at 6 for 16, the Nets went into halftime up 49-43.
After another tight and low-scoring third quarter, the Nets went into the fourth up 70-62. While Brooklyn maintained their slight edge, the Bucks kept the pressure on.
After trailing by double digits early in the fourth, Milwaukee cut the deficit down to just two on a Green 3-pointer with 33 seconds to play.
The Nets, as they did all night, sank their free throws to cement the result. Saraf made all four of his shots from the stripe after Green’s shot as Brooklyn finished 21 of 23 from the line.
The Nets improved to 2-1 over Milwaukee this season in the first matchup between the teams since December. They’ll meet one more time Friday in Milwaukee.
