The Brooklyn Nets reached the end of their home schedule Thursday night and headed into their final two games before the offseason after a loss to the Indiana Pacers. They now turn to Nets vs Bucks, a matchup that lands with Milwaukee missing Giannis Antetokounmpo and several other regulars.
Milwaukee enters after a 137-111 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night and without Antetokounmpo, Kevin Porter Jr., Bobby Portis and Gary Trent Jr. The Bucks did beat Brooklyn in the first meeting between the teams this season, but the Nets won the next two, a small edge that gives this meeting a different feel even with both clubs moving toward the finish line.
The bigger number for Brooklyn is two. That is all the Nets have left before the offseason, a stretch that has turned each game into a final look at players trying to shape the next stage of the roster. Ben Saraf was on the floor for 28 minutes the previous night, and coach Jordi Fernandez praised the progress he has made in decision-making, a sign the rookie’s role has grown as the season has worn down. Jericho Sims, meanwhile, recorded a triple double, the sort of performance that has kept him in the conversation as the Nets search for useful answers in a closing month defined more by evaluation than standings.
Read Also: Bucks Vs Pistons: Cade Cunningham Returns as Milwaukee Visits Detroit
For Milwaukee, the game sits inside a far larger unease. Shams Charania reported on April 7 about Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the backdrop behind that report stretches back months. Antetokounmpo had voiced serious doubts about the roster before the season began, then reiterated for a few months before the Feb. 5 trade deadline that he was prepared to be moved. The Bucks had already committed heavily to keeping him in place, trading for Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard in moves that helped persuade him to sign multiple extensions, while giving up three first-round picks and four pick swaps along the way.
Read Also: Doc Rivers' future with Bucks in doubt after 31-47 season
That cost matters because the Bucks have now taken another step down from contention, including a third consecutive first-round exit last spring. The roster has changed, the picks are gone and the pressure has not eased. Against that backdrop, every short-handed game only sharpens the question around what Milwaukee can still offer its franchise cornerstone, and whether the team can keep him convinced that the future is worth staying for.
