The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Brooklyn Nets to give fans a cathartic finale in what has been a forgettable season. In the final home game at Fiserv Forum, the Bucks played with purpose and poise, displaying admirable ball movement on offense and great discipline on D. AJ Green paced the Bucks with 35 points, with Cormac Ryan close behind with a career-high 28. Green’s 11 made triples set a new single-game franchise record, and chants of “Dai-ry-Bird” and “A-J-Green” thundered in the late stages,
an appreciative crowd serenading the Iowa sniper on his historic night.
Game Recap
Fresh off a lunch meeting with Zeus, Cormac Ryan started dropping lightning and thunder on the hapless Nets from early on. First, a layup off a pick-six. Next possession, a corner three. Then, a drive right that led to a fadeaway, Karl Malone style. Swish. The two-way phenom stayed on fire throughout the frame, finishing with 18 points on nearly perfect shooting. Ryan’s supporting cast matched the shock and awe of their superstar. They started with seven assists on eight buckets, a team zipping the ball around and not settling until the best shot presented itself. All five starters scored when Taurean Prince hit a corner three, not even halfway into the quarter. They were stingy and connected on D, stifling the visitors with a zone that led to contested, missed triples or altered—or rejected—shots down low. After one, it was Bucks 38, Nets 24.
Bafflingly, quarter two started without Ryan on the floor. Yes, he played almost the entire first quarter. Also yes, he was on a historic (for him) tear. His teammates largely picked up for him. AJ Green hit a couple triples and had a near-miss putback dunk, not a regular feature of his game. Jericho Sims made some nice plays, including a driving layup on a nice dish from Dieng. Ousmane did it himself the next possession, skying in for an emphatic dunk through traffic. When Taurean Prince drained a corner triple the next time down, it was 57-39 Bucks. The Nets then went on a 13-3 run to drop the lead to single digits, prompting a Doc Rivers timeout. Kuzma drained a rhythm triple from the logo to close the half and send the hometowners into the half up double digits. The Bucks had 19 assists on 26 made buckets, shooting 60% on field goals and 52% from deep. Halftime: Bucks 66, Nets 54.
The Bucks had no interest in the bad old days of surrendering leads and removing foot from gas pedal in the third quarter. They rode a balanced attack, highlight plays, and continued solid D to steamroll the visitors early before letting up just enough to make the final quarter somewhat interesting. Myles Turner and Ousmane Dieng had monster dunks early, followed by banger triples by AJ Green, including a corner hit that tied him with Damian Lillard for made three-pointers in a season at 220 (he later added to his total and put himself in range to match or exceed 224 and 229, currently nos. 2 and 1 behind Malik Beasley and Ray Allen). Then it was Prince’s turn. An impossible-looking fadeaway corner triple, with hand in his face, saw bottom. Then he picked a pass on the next possession and hit from long range to send Fiserv into a frenzy. Milwaukee was ahead 99-84 entering the final period.
Things got feisty to start the fourth, with E.J. Liddell and Jericho Sims getting tied up, drawing an immediate crowd of teammates. The review clearly showed Liddell throwing a forearm shiv at Sims’ head, earning a flagrant-2 and ejection for Liddell. Sims shot two free throws. The next possession, Dieng hit Sims for a transition alley-oop slam. Even more catharsis came when AJ Green hit yet another long-range bomb the next time down. Green stayed unconscious, connecting on late-game bombs that gave him 11 triples—an all-time Bucks single game record.
Stat That Stood Out
50%. That’s the Bucks’ three-point percentage tonight, in large part due to Green’s 11-16 from long range.
