3 Takeaways from Brooklyn Nets Spirited Loss to Milwaukee Bucks

Nets getting close! Is that a good thing?

Upsets, bracket chatter, and an onslaught of Capital One commercials featuring Charles Barkley and his buddies — it’s hard to think of a louder sporting event in existence than March Madness.

With the NCAA dropping needle on the big dance yesterday, the college game seemed all but certain to drown out any noise conjured up by the lowly Brooklyn Nets, who tipped off game No. 70 just as Dayton completed its surreal 17-point comeback and Oakland started making Kentucky fans sweat.

This time of year, there’s only so much basketball you can digest at once. Brooklyn’s losing ways of late coupled with the tournament’s arrival made focusing on the latter rather than the former an easy decision for casual basketball fans last night.

But there he was, Cam Thomas, alongside Mikal Bridges and others, slamming on his drum over in Milwaukee, likely forcing many of you to peak over your shoulder and check in on the moribund team.

Those who did tune in know the Nets ended up falling to the Bucks by a 115-108 score, though the way they got there made it a more entertaining watch than any other Nets game in recent memory.

Brooklyn still hit on all their usual plot points, the main one being an inability to generate consistent offense before the defense inevitably gave out. Regardless, the Nets did not just roll over and die. They hung around — and as depressing as it may be — that’s a dub for the team at this point. Here’s what we learned in the spiritual victory.

Nets may be Prepping Clowney for Big Minutes

With Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, and Bobby Portis on deck, Kevin Ollie picked one hell of a night for Noah Clowney to play his first real, consistent minutes as Nic Claxton’s backup.

Rather than Day’Ron Sharpe, Clowney got the call as the second big off the bench, logging 14 minutes and tallying five points, four rebounds, and an assist. He shot 2-5 from the field and 1-4 from downtown.

While Sharpe likely remains a part of Brooklyn’s long-term plans as well, being just 22 years old and showing signs of growth this year, the Nets giving Clowney the burn that they did last night argues they want to feature him as a rotation player next year.

Now, their reported intentions to re-sign Claxton with Sharpe still aboard might complicate that ideology, especially if you value floor spacing as I do. However, it’s worth noting that Clowney played a large majority of his minutes on Long Island with bigs Patrick Gardner and David Muoka.

With that said, there’s reason to believe Brooklyn could be prepping him to fill a power forward role in the future, perhaps backing up Cameron Johnson if they deal Dorian Finney-Smith this summer. Keep in mind, he hit a triple last night while pulling four shots from deep. He’s also shooting 50% from downtown (8-of-16) in his last four games.

Unlike Sharpe, Claxton, or Ben Simmons if you want to rope him into this, the 19-year-old can absolutely stretch the floor.

There’s a variety of routes the Nets could take this developmental project — power forward avenue or center boulevard — but the Nets seem to like Clowney and have more immediate plans in store for him than we were previously led to believe with him handcuffed to the Nassau Coliseum almost all year.

Jalen Wilson Solidifying Himself as Glue Guy of the Future

With so much roster turnover throughout the past five years, it’s difficult to recall Brooklyn’s last homegrown glue guy off the wing. Joe Harris has a stake to that claim, though he technically came from Cleveland’s farm system. Rodions Kurucs or Rondae Hollis-Jefferson?

Regardless, Jalen Wilson has a chance to do what many Brooklyn wings of the bench have failed at: stick around.

As a textbook “3-and-D” player and with the ability to guard multiple positions, Wilson checks all the boxes of the modern game’s role player. While he failed to connect on his only 3-point attempt last night, he’s still shooting 35.8% from range since February and still turned in a solid performance vs the Bucks in the second half.

The rook finished with four points, five rebounds, and two assists. Most importantly, he illustrated “Brooklyn Grit” perhaps better than any other player out there, hounding the glass for extra rebounds, playing animated defense, and jetting out on the break to either score himself or fill lanes for his trailing teammates.

Wilson also made an excess of cuts, dives, screens, and other little plays the box score neglects to propel his team. All the things you want from a role player he delivered in a box with a bow on top and against one of the league’s best teams. When he checked in late in the third, Brooklyn trailed Milwaukee 81-67. When he checked out, the score sat tied at 90-90.

The Nets converted him to a standard contract and then extended it through 2026 for a reason, but Wilson’s running around out there as if he’s still trying to make the roster. The skillset, the energy, and the winning plays — with all that considered — I’m ready to bet Royce O’Neale, Bruce Brown, and Jeff Green’s successor is already here and wearing number 22.

Nets Need to Stop Queuing Up Johnson Late

Dropping 17 points while shooting 4-of-9 from downtown, it was a relatively sharp shooting night for Cameron Johnson even after a slow start. He also dished out four assists and grabbed eight rebounds, finishing as the only starter with a positive plus/minus.

However, the clutch three continued to evade him last night.

I’m not here to bash Johnson, who again, all-in-all turned in a solid night. Despite how the clock makes you feel, all shots, miss or make, count the same. The three he nailed with a minute to go in the second quarter counted just as much as the one he made with 6:58 in getting Brooklyn to their final 108-point tally.

That said, there are far too many instances of him missing momentum-swinging threes this year to ignore at this point. So when the Nets called a timeout, down 106-101 with 1:37 to play, and drew up a play for Johnson to hit a three, I couldn’t help but scratch my head.

Not only did the Nets put everything in Johnson’s hands in a situation he has a history of fumbling in, but they did so after taking him out of rhythm, keeping him on the bench for three possessions prior.

It was a gorgeous set up, as Johnson rolled oppositely to Claxton to create a fair look, but the result left fans in a familiar, disappointing position. After the fact, Lillard nailed a dagger, step back triple. “CJ Time” just doesn’t have the same ring to it as “Dame Time” does, and it showed.

It was the wrong player at the wrong time. There’s no saving the season at this point, but hopefully, Brooklyn learns their lesson for next year and stop spamming Johnson in such situations.