Bucks beat Nets for 13th straight time, 108-93

[December 27, 2012]  MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Brandon Jennings scored 25 points, Monta Ellis added 20 points and a season-high six steals, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the short-handed Brooklyn Nets for the 13th straight time, 108-93 on Wednesday night.

Brook Lopez had 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Nets missed a chance to get back to .500 on the road (6-7) and lost their third straight.

The Nets were without starting guard Deron Williams. He used his wrist to brace himself as he fell to the court in Tuesday's 93-76 loss to the Boston Celtics. C.J. Watson made his first start of the season and 60th of his career.

Trailing 78-67 after three, the Nets made it a close game in the fourth quarter, getting to 84-80, but Milwaukee answered with 3-pointers from Ersan Ilyasova, Ellis and Mike Dunleavy to push the lead to 11. Brooklyn could get no closer.

The Nets fell to 3-10 in December.

Ellis and Jennings outscored Joe Johnson and Watson 45-21. When the teams played on Dec. 9 in Brooklyn, Jennings and Ellis outscored Williams and Johnson 50-24.

After leading by seven to end the first quarter, Milwaukee surged ahead in the second, played close in the third and hung on in the fourth.

Keith Bogans led the Nets back in the fourth with a three-point play that started a 13-4 run that pulled them to 84-80. That was as close as Brooklyn could get.

The Nets trailed 55-42 at the half and pulled to 71-64 on Andray Blatche's layup that capped a 6-0 run he started with a basket. But, the Bucks answered on Ilyasova's four free throws and two more by Ellis for a 78-76 lead going into the fourth.

Jennings and Dunleavy sparked the offense as Milwaukee outscored Brooklyn 33-18 in the second quarter and led 55-42 at the half.

Jennings scored eight of his 16 points in the second and Dunleavy added 10.

After a steal by Ellis, Dunleavy hit a fast-break 3 that tied it at 37 and started an 18-7 run.

Brooklyn helped out by missing from the outside. The Nets finished the half 17 of 43 (39 percent) and 0 for 8 from beyond the

NOTES: After the Boston game, Nets CEO Brett Yormark tweeted his displeasure with the players' performance. He also let loose on the Barclays Center's technical issues that also marred the afternoon game. "Nets fans deserved better," Yormark tweeted after the game. "The entire organization needs to work harder to find a solution. We will get there." Yormark called Avery Johnson to talk about his tweet. "It's the same thing I've been saying all along, 'We all have to get better,'" Johnson said of their conversation. "I agree (with him). We all have to get better." ... Nets F Kris Humphries, who did not make the trip, missed his second consecutive game with a strained abdominal muscle." ... The Nets last beat the Bucks 99-95 on March 3, 2009. ... Bucks G Beno Udrih returned to the lineup after missing 12 games with a sprained right ankle.

[Associated Press]

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