Nets end circus-trip on a high note, beat Milwaukee 107-98

The Nets' six game circus road trip ends with the Brooklyn taking on the Milwaukee Bucks, and they finished the road trip strong with a 107-98 win in Milwaukee. The Nets finish the trip 4-2, and head back to Brooklyn with a bit of momentum after winning two straight games. The Nets are now just one game under .500 for the first time since November.

Though the Nets were on fire on offense, the struggles on defense were quite obvious. Without their anchor, Kevin Garnett, they only outscored the worst team in the league, Milwaukee, by a score of 31-29. Deron Williams' nine first quarter points led the Nets in their offensive onslaught, but he would cool down a bit in the second quarter.

Instead of Williams, Marcus Thornton was the story of the Nets' second quarter. His 13 points in nine minutes led the Nets in a quarter where they didn't lose or gain ground on the Bucks. Thornton's lone miss came from the free throw line, as he shot 4/4 from the field, including 2/2 from the three point line. Along with Thornton, Andray Blatche and Andrei Kirilenko were playing solid basketball in the quarter, but the Nets were still unable to stop the Bucks' offense from keeping up. They went into halftime with a 55-53 lead, and they allowed the NBA's second worst offense to put on an incredible display of offense. The Nets shot 48.8 percent from the field in the first half, but the Bucks answered with a 46.3 percent shooting half led by Khris Middleton's 5/5 from the field.

The Nets would extend their lead to 11 in the third quarter on 10-2 run, but Milwaukee would go on to respond with a 6-0 run of their own to cut the Nets' lead back down to five. Led by Shaun Livingston and Paul Pierce, it looked like Brooklyn was preparing to pull away from the Bucks, and the defense was solid for most of the quarter. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep things going and ended up with a 77-72 lead headed into the fourth quarter.

It was almost an exact duplicate of the third quarter in the fourth, as the Nets once again built up an 11 point lead. Milwaukee went on an 11-4 run to cut the Nets' lead down to four, but that's as close as they would get. They would out-score the Bucks 30-26 in the final quarter, and held off the Bucks to finish off the win.

Marcus Thornton went off for the Nets, scoring 25 points on 8/13 shooting. This is his third game with the Nets after the trade from Sacramento, and he is providing Brooklyn with the scoring off of the bench that they have lacked all season. Andray Blatche played a key role in the win, and finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Deron Williams would finish with just 15 points after his nine point first quarter, and dished out just four assists.

Final Score: 107-98 NETS
Promising Stat of the Game: Marcus Thornton's 25 points on 8/13 shooting.
Most Disappointing Stat of the game: Joe Johnson's seven points on 2/9 shooting.
Scariest Moment of the Game: Milwaukee going on a late 11-2 run to trim the Nets' lead.
Best Moment of the Game: All six of Shaun Livingston's dunks.
Follow @NetsTakeOver