The Brooklyn Nets, reeling with losses, meet the Milwaukee Bucks tonight at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The game will be live streamed on the FSWI network at 8:30 PM ET.
Make no mistake about it. Jason Kidd, their new head coach and the Nets are officially in trouble this season. With a 5-14 record, they have fallen into last place in the Atlantic Division.
They'll look to avoid falling into a tie with the Bucks for the Eastern Conference's worst record with a loss, tonight.
A game Thursday against the woeful Knicks -- who had lost nine in a row -- figured to be a prime opportunity for Brooklyn to snap a five-game home losing streak. Instead the Nets matched their largest margin of defeat with a 113-83 loss and were outscored 34-16 in the third quarter. They've been outscored in the third period in all but one of their losses.
The Nets have lost four of five, getting outscored by a total of 73 points in the last three defeats.
"We're struggling but we're going to come out of this, man, that's the only way to think," said Kevin Garnett, whose 6.5 points per game and 37.1 field goal percentage are both career lows.
Brook Lopez, their center, remains productive, posting 24 points and nine rebounds, but he hasn't had much help. Joe Johnson had 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting and his 15.8 scoring average is his lowest since 2002-03, his second season in the league.
Deron Williams is still sidelined by a sprained ankle and won't return until next week at the earliest, while Paul Pierce's broken hand is expected to be re-evaluated next week.
Besides the Nets' offensive woes -- they're averaging 92.0 points over the last eight games -- they're also still being exploited on the perimeter. New York was 16 of 27 on 3-pointers, the fourth time in Brooklyn's last six games an opponent hit 11 or more. The Nets' 3-point defense is the worst in the NBA, allowing opponents to hit 41.6 percent of their attempts.
"Teams come in with three wins and shooting lights out," Johnson told the team's website. "It's almost like there's no respect."
The Bucks (4-15) could easily take advantage as they're one of the league's better 3-point shooting teams with a 37.7 percent clip.
John Henson helped compensate for the absences of Caron Butler (sore left knee) and Zaza Pachulia (sprained right foot), tallying 19 points and 17 rebounds. He's averaging 13.8 points and 11.0 rebounds while starting the last four contests.
It's not clear if either Butler or Pachulia will play Saturday. Butler has missed five straight games.
The game will be live streamed over the FSWI network.
