Nets ready for talented Bucks and former Brooklyn star Brook Lopez
Milwaukee Bucks' Brook Lopez reacts to a call during the second half of Game 1 of their NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat Saturday, May 22, 2021, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Credit: AP/Morry Gash
When the Bucks arrived for Game 1 of their second-round playoff series against the Nets Saturday night at Barclays Center, it marked a homecoming of sorts for an old friend — all-time franchise scoring leader Brook Lopez, who left four seasons ago as a free agent and has spent the past three seasons as the Bucks’ starting center.
Lopez spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Nets in New Jersey and Brooklyn, amassing a total of 10,444 points and passing Buck Williams (10,440) with 25 points in the final game Lopez wore a Nets uniform.
"I have great memories of my time with the Nets," Lopez said a few days before Game 1. "I look back on them fondly a lot. I definitely wish we could have been more successful in the playoffs, but I played with a lot of great, special players, just going down the list, guys like Kevin Garnett, ‘Truth’ [Paul Pierce], "DWill’ (Deron Williams), I could just keep going. So I have very special memories of my time there."
Lopez agreed the sentimental attachment will make this different from any previous playoff experience for him, but in the end, what matters most is the business at hand matching the NBA’s two highest-scoring and arguably most talented teams.
"I’m excited to go back and play in Brooklyn and play on that court again in Barclays," Lopez said. "But we’re going to be pretty focused once tipoff comes."
Obviously, the Nets have a supremely talented Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, who averaged 85.2 points, an NBA playoff record for a trio, in their 4-1 first-round win over the Celtics. But the Bucks have their own Big 3 that includes two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and All-Stars Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, who averaged 85.3 points in their 2-1 regular-season series win over the Nets.
Harden missed the Nets’ two losses and Irving sat out the win, so Game 1 was the Bucks’ first matchup against the full complement of Nets stars. "We’re obviously watching film from those games and learning what we can from those games," Lopez said. "But we also know they weren’t at full strength for any of those games.
"They have three incredible, all-world players on their team and a lot of good other players, too. Whoever they put out there, it’s going to be up to us to show up defensively, have the right focus, intent, attitude, all that stuff.
"Just watching film, they have guys out there who can make tough shots. We can play great defense for 20 seconds, 24 seconds, and KD or Kyrie would hit a tough shot. That’s what they do. So we’re just trying to be focused on ourselves and continue to play great defense and, if they hit a tough shot, not let that deflate us."
Lopez could play a key role for the Bucks. He averaged 12.3 points and 5.0 rebounds and is a solid three-point shooter who can help space the floor, and as his 1.5 blocks per game indicate, he’s a strong rim protector and defensive presence.
"I think he could be one of the wild cards," Nets coach Steve Nash said of the impact Lopez might have. "I think all the complementary players on both sides, there’s potential for somebody to have a huge impact, not necessarily unexpectedly, but a bigger impact than you thought. Brook’s one of those guys that can do different things on the floor to have an impact."
On the Nets’ end of the floor, Joe Harris, who won his second NBA three-point percentage in the past three seasons, could be that guy. Harris is the only remaining player on the Nets’ roster, other than injured Spencer Dinwiddie, who played with Lopez, and he is looking forward to the reunion.
"Brook is actually one of my favorite guys in the NBA," Harris said. "In the short time we were together in Brooklyn, I got to know him pretty well. He’s one of those guys who is very charismatic. People gravitate toward him, everybody really likes him a lot.
"Then, I got a chance to play with him again in the World Cup a couple of years ago. So I spent the summer with him. He’s definitely one of my favorite people in the NBA."
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
