Coming off a win on Sunday against the Wizards , the Brooklyn Nets (20-59) took on another team missing a ton of talent in the Milwaukee Bucks (31-48) on Tuesday.
The Bucks held out Giannis Antetokounmpo , Bobby Portis , Ryan Rollins , Kyla Kuzma, and more for this game. Just like Brooklyn , they're hoping to drop some games to improve their lottery odds. The Nets came out on top, 96-90, to worsen their odds at a top pick on Tuesday.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the Nets home win over the Bucks.
The last few weeks of a tanking season offer a chance for guys who may not have seen many minutes previously to show what they can do. E.J. Liddell is one of those guys in Brooklyn. And he exploded for a career night on Tuesday. The former Ohio State Buckeye had 17 points in the first half, ultimately finishing the night with 21 points.
Those 17 first-half points were a career-high for Liddell, who's fighting to prove he belongs on an NBA roster next season. He wasn't able to stick in New Orleans or Chicago before this, but has done some good stuff in a Nets uniform lately. There's an NBA role player in there for the right team to find and utilize.
After just making his NBA debut last week, Trevon Scott put together a solid all-around performance on Tuesday against the Bucks. He was active in all facets of the game, finishing with eight points, four rebounds, two assists, and four steals.
While the numbers don't jump off the page, this was the kind of performance that could get Scott a prove-it deal in the NBA next season. He showed flashes of a role player who can contribute in certain situations. That kind of guy on a cheap deal is what good teams are made of. Scott made himself some money with his performance on Tuesday.
The Nets have perfected the art of losing basketball games all season long. Which is what Tuesday's win is even harder to swallow for fans. In a game where it would behoove Brooklyn to lose to better lottery odds, they found a way to win. They didn't win when the game mattered earlier, but they won when they needed to lose.
While it's nice for the pieces on the roster to see a win now and again, this wasn't the time for that to happen. In the span of a couple of days, the Nets have gone from a chance at the best lottery odds to maybe missing out on top-three odds altogether. This was a bad result for the franchise's future.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/nets/onsi as E.J. Liddell's Career Night a Takeaway As The Nets Take Down The Bucks .
