The Brooklyn Nets have been dealing with multiple injuries during the past month, but they’ve still been one of the league’s top teams during that stretch. It caught up with them last night, as the Milwaukee Bucks rolled to a 113-94 victory, capping off a five-game road trip with a 4-1 record.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished just short of a triple-double, 30 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Bucks (39-13). Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points and Eric Bledsoe 15 points, five assists and five steals.
Bledsoe also held Nets point guard G’Angelo Russell to 18 points on 7-of-20 shooting. Bledsoe had extra motivation after he was overlooked for a spot on the all-star team. The NBA on Friday named Russell an all-star as an injury replacement for Indiana’s Victor Oladipo.
The Bucks return to Milwaukee and will host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday at Fiserv Forum.
Antetokounmpo named Eastern Conference Player of the Week
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second straight week, sixth time this season and ninth time in his career.
With Antetokounmpo leading the way, Milwaukee went a perfect 3-0 last week, picking up wins at Detroit, Toronto and Washington to improve its NBA-Best record to 28-13. He averaged 25.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game last week while shooting 51.0 percent from the field. This included a 37-point, 10 rebound performance in Saturday’s win over Washington where Antetokounmpo set the franchise record for most free throws made without a miss as he went a perfect 17-for-17 from the charity stripe.
On the season, Antetokounmpo is averaging 26.6 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 57.1 percent from the field.