Rookie Egor Demin scored 17 points after being publicly criticized by coach Jordi Fernandez as the Brooklyn Nets never trailed and cruised to a 127-82 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night in New York.
The Nets won for the fourth time in six games and Demin was among nine in double figures in a game Brooklyn won by 45. Demin produced his second-most points this season after being held to 14 in his previous three games and hearing criticism from Fernandez for a quiet showing in Friday’s loss at Dallas.
Noah Clowney added 14 of his 16 in the third quarter when the Nets put the game away. Tyrese Martin contributed 14 and rookie Drake Powell chipped in 13 while Michael Porter Jr. and Terrance Mann finished with 12 apiece as Fernandez watched the game from home due to an illness and the team was coached by assistant Steve Hetzel.
The Nets got 60 points from their reserves, shot 52.9% and tied a season-best with 19 3-pointers. Brooklyn also finished with a season-high 14 steals and handed out 33 assists.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 20 points for the Bucks, who dropped to 2-8 without Giannis Antetokounmpo this season. Kyle Kuzma added 13 and Ryan Rollins finished with 11 but the Bucks shot 39.2%.
Milwaukee also shot 22.9% (8 of 35) from 3-point range and failed to hit at least 10 3s for the first time this season. The Bucks also committed 20 turnovers and lost for the 11th time in 14 games.
Brooklyn took a 37-25 lead after shooting 62.5% in the opening quarter. Brooklyn converted consecutive turnovers into easy baskets for a 45-27 lead early in the second and forced Milwaukee to burn two timeouts in 54 seconds.
Martin’s 30-foot triple from well behind the top of the arc opened a 50-31 lead with about eight minutes left. After Milwaukee sliced the lead to 52-41 on a basket by Trent with 3:39 left, the Nets took a 65-48 lead by halftime.
Clowney hit three 3s in the opening five-plus minutes of the third to push Brooklyn’s lead to 84-59. Brooklyn opened a 29-point lead when Demin sank three free throws with 4:59 left and took a 99-71 lead into the fourth after Martin sank a 3 from near midcourt with 36.1 seconds left.
