Nets lose at Bucks 125-108; Two-Way Tyson Etienne drops 23 points

The Brooklyn Nets (20-61) have been in evaluation mode since the team was officially eliminated from the NBA playoffs and along the way, they are looking to finish the season strong. Brooklyn will be spending its last two games on the road before ending the 2025-26 campaign, but the Milwaukee Bucks (32-49) were determined to make this road trip start off horribly for the Nets.

The Nets lost to the Bucks on Friday 125-108 as Brooklyn couldn't get anything going on the defensive end of the floor and Milwaukee made them pay for it. Two-Way guard Tyson Etienne had one of his best games of the season as he dropped 23 points and four rebounds while guard Malachi Smith notched his first double-double of 19 points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists.

The Nets began this game on the wrong end as they ended the first quarter trailing the Bucks 38-24 as Milwaukee guard Cormac Ryan went off for 18 points in the period. Not only did Brooklyn picked the worst time to not be able to defend Milwaukee, but they also did not show up on the offensive end as they shot just 33.3% from the field and 30.8% from behind the three-point line.

While the Nets fell behind by as many as 23 points in this game, Brooklyn was able to close the gap at certain points during the second and third quarters thanks to their improved shooting from players like Etienne and Smith. Rookie guard Ben Saraf, who is one of the players being evaluated heading into a huge offseason for the Nets, scored 15 points and dished out three assists in 41 minutes of playing time.

In the end, the Nets struggled to limit Milwaukee's impact at the three-point line as they shot 24-of-48 (50.0%) from deep, led by guard AJ Green and his 33 points (11 made three-pointers). The Nets have one game left on their schedule with Sunday's game at the Toronto Raptors and Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez is probably hoping that the matchup with Toronto will go better than this contest in Milwaukee.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets lose at Bucks 125-108; Two-Way Tyson Etienne drops 23 points