The Nets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 115-102 in Sunday’s home opener at Barclays Center, earning their first win of the 2024-25 season and Jordi Fernandez‘s first win as an NBA head coach.
Fernandez, now three games into his new job, has been hellbent on trying to establish a winning culture in Brooklyn. He wants the franchise to best represent the Brooklyn grit and the Brooklyn Way. It remains a work progress, and it will take some time before Fernandez’s vision can be fully fleshed out. But Sunday’s 13-point win — against a perennial contender in the Eastern Conference — gave us an idea of what it could look like.
The Nets shot the ball poorly and were out-rebounded in the first half, but they held Milwaukee to 39.5% shooting and forced 10 turnovers, which gave them 11 more shot attempts and eight extra points. They started 1-of-6 from the field and 0-of-3 from deep but continued to lean on their defense even when shots were not falling. Their persistence was rewarded with a 48-45 halftime lead, and they did not let up down the stretch.
Brooklyn would limit the Bucks to 44.6% shooting for the game (10-of-33 from deep). It turned 18 turnovers into 21 points and won the battle on the glass 47-43. Giannis Antetokounmpo still got his buckets, finishing with 22 points in 33 minutes, but the Nets did not let the two-time MVP break the game. Nic Claxton, who came off the bench for the third straight game, served as Antetokounmpo’s primary defender and was plus-23 in 22 minutes.
Cam Thomas, continuing his torrid offensive start to the 2024-25 season, poured in a game-high 32 points for Brooklyn and Dennis Schröder added 29 points, for rebounds and six assists. The Nets were plus-17 in shot attempts in the win
