The Nets had grit.
But Milwaukee had Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The latter won out.
The Nets lost 129-125 to the Bucks before 17,935 at Barclays Center on Monday night, not because of the Greek Freak’s offense but his defense when Milwaukee needed it.
After five ties in the final minutes, Antetokounmpo (36 points, 12 rebounds) not only had the dunk that gave the Bucks the lead, but the defensive stops to preserve it.
He blocked Dorian Finney-Smith with 28 seconds left and Cam Thomas with 15 seconds left in regulation.
The Nets couldn’t force overtime.
Damian Lillard — whom the Nets never pursued this offseason despite constant reports linking them — had 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Thomas is rapidly developing into the kind of player who could change Nets general manager Sean Marks’ calculus about what star to chase.
The young guard poured in a game-high 45 points, and Mikal Bridges added 31.
But Thomas will surely rue the two points he couldn’t get.
The game was knotted at 115-all, 117-all and 119-all with 3:02 remaining.
Thomas drove and tied it again at 121-all, and after a Khris Middleton bucket, Bridges pulled them even again at 123-all.
But after an Antetokounmpo dunk, Thomas missed a 3-point attempt.
Then on the next trip, Finney-Smith was blocked under the basket by Antetokounmpo.
Lillard had a chance to give Milwaukee breathing room but made just one of two at the free-throw line, leaving the Nets down just three with 23.4 seconds to go.
But Thomas’ layup attempt got blocked by Antetokounmpo with 15.1 seconds left to play, and Milwaukee closed the game out from there.
The Nets have dropped nine of the past 11 regular-season meetings with Milwaukee.
But the drama between these team is from the postseason, not the regular season.
The Nets lost a classic Game 7 Eastern Conference semifinal to Milwaukee in 2021 when James Harden hurt his hamstring seconds into the series, Kyrie Irving twisted his ankle in Game 4 and Kevin Durant had what he thought was a series-winning 3-pointer ruled a 2-pointer and Brooklyn lost in overtime.
The Nets have started off a brutal four-game stretch with a pair of tough losses at home. It started with the league-leading Celtics over the weekend, an ends Friday with a return trip to Boston.
In between is Monday’s loss to the Bucks and Wednesday’s date against the Clippers and former Nets superstar James Harden.
The Celtics — who entered play Monday as the league’s only remaining unbeaten — are the betting favorites to win the championship. The Bucks are runners-up, close behind.
After adding Harden — who demanded a trade from Brooklyn in February 2022, then forced his way out of Philadelphia last week — the Clippers are now fifth-favorite to win it all, according to FanDuel.
“We need to win at home. And so that’ll help and that’s the next box that we have to check. So hopefully that happens [Monday],” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said of this stretch. “But I think our group … after losing two tough games at the beginning of the year, I talked about us not splintering at all. I think we accepted the challenge of where we are. I’ve encouraged our group to just stay in this space.
“Don’t look too far ahead. Understand that we will continue to grow in this space, and it’s OK we’re going to have some good and some bad on a given night. We’ve evolved at being better late-game execution with this group. We’ve evolved in our defensive schemes. There’s some good things we’re doing offensively and we’ve got some guys out. So stay in this space. We’ll grow together. And overall, I’ve been pretty pleased with this group.”
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