Nets at Bucks
Surging Milwaukee continues a five-game homestand that straddles the All-Star break and is loaded with losing opponents when it hosts Brooklyn on Monday. Brandon Knight capped a 26-point effort with a big jumper in the closing seconds as the Bucks topped Boston by a 96-93 margin Saturday, their sixth win in seven games and fourth straight at home. Including the Nets, Milwaukee's next three opponents on the homestand are a combined 36 games below .500 overall and a collective 25-48 on the road.
The first meeting between these teams was a memorable one, as current Bucks head coach and last season's Nets head coach Jason Kidd made his return to Brooklyn a success with a 122-118 win in triple-overtime. The Nets opened a season-high eight-game road trip with a 114-77 loss at Washington on Saturday, snapping a three-game winning streak. They shot 33.8 percent while barely eclipsing their worst offensive output of the season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE NETS (21-29): Deron Williams had a successful return from injury earlier this month, scoring 15 points in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers and adding 11 points and six assists in a triumph against Toronto on Wednesday. However, the veteran has hit another wall in what has become a woeful shooting season for him, missing all eight of his shots against Washington and going 2-for-17 overall in his last two games. Since playing 52 minutes in the triple-overtime loss to Milwaukee on Nov. 19, Williams is shooting 33.9 percent from the floor.
ABOUT THE BUCKS (28-23): While nothing is a given, the run of lesser opponents at home seems to come at a good time for Milwaukee, which played four games (including an overtime affair) in six nights in three cities while carrying no more than nine healthy players. "We're playing with the guys that we have," Kidd told reporters after the win over the Celtics. "We're not complaining, but guys are tired." Knight, who sat out the beginning of that four-game stretch due to a sore quadriceps, is averaging 20.7 points, eight assists and two steals in the last three games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bucks C Zaza Pachulia (calf) has missed six straight games and PF Kenyon Martin (ankle) has sat out three in a row.
2. Nets C Brook Lopez, who is averaging 21.6 points over his last five games, had 26 in the triple-OT loss to the Bucks earlier this season.
3. Milwaukee entered Sunday fourth in the NBA in 3-point shooting (37.7 percent), while Brooklyn was tied for 26th (32.0).