Cam Johnson helps Nets hold off late charge from Bucks for shock win

MILWAUKEE — Jordi Fernandez coaches to win.

The so-called tank work will not be completed tomorrow, next season, or the year after.

He means right now.

And that's how his Nets played against a heavily favored 113-110 Milwaukee on Thursday night at the Fiserv Forum.

Brooklyn held a lead of about 20 players, but had to hang on from there.

But unlike the game that started this trip against Orlando (in which the Nets blew a 17-point deficit with seven minutes left), this time they held on.

Cam Johnson, who was in the midst of a mid-career breakout and was expected to be one of the hottest players at the trade deadline, scored a team-high 26 points, and Cam Thomas scored 24 points off the bench. Added.

Johnson twisted his ankle while trying to get a rebound when Dame Lillard's game-tying shot missed at the buzzer, but if the injury lingers, it could spell bad news for the Nets.

D'Angelo Russell (11 points, 12 assists) and Nick Claxton (16 points, 11 rebounds) each had double-doubles.

“Jordi and I had a mental conversation saying, 'Look, we're going to make this, this is how we're going to make it.' We want to collaborate on this. I mean, he's great. It was nothing but that,” general manager Sean Marks told the Post. “He made it clear to me, ‘I’m going to go out there and work hard as a coach and win every game.’ I said, ‘Great, good luck. The goal is not to not compete, right? The goal is to foster a culture of going out, competing, playing hard and playing the right way.

“And that's what he did. It's obviously not easy when you have talented people leaving or coming in and out of a team. So it's definitely not going to be easy for this coaching staff at this point. There have been a few days where the lineup has looked a lot different, whether it's due to injuries or trades, and they've had to figure that out. So they've had to learn on the fly and work through the ups and downs. It does a really great job of dealing with the ups and downs.”

Brooklyn has dropped three games in a row and 11 of its previous 14, including a fall in Toronto the night before that ended the Raptors' 11-game run.

And they were playing a 4-1 Milwaukee team that featured Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard.

However, Johnson was basically even with Antetokounmpo, and Russell was significantly better than Lillard.

The defense did the rest.

Thomas jockeyed for position and drew an offensive foul from the much larger Bobby Portis.

And Claxton is playing against bigger teams on the inside.

Brooklyn forced the Bucks into turnovers and beat Milwaukee 27-8 on an out-and-run over.

“Yeah, it’s part of our identity,” Fernandez said. “And if we do that efficiently, we can be in good shape and give ourselves chances and I think that's why we've been winning games so far. That's important for us. That's clearly a different team. 1735879128 More than the last match. But so far we've been able to be competitive and ball pressure has been key, not just in the half court but in the full court.

“We go out there and space the floor and do what we do offensively and defensively, extra toughness, physicality, multiple efforts to finish possessions, get the ball 50-on-50. That's what I'm asking you to do. We can't ask them to grow, so all we can do is control. And we know our players will do what they've always done. I'm really looking forward to seeing it.”

Trailing 13-5 early, the Nets used a 25-8 run in the first quarter.

Thomas scored this to give them a 30-21 lead.

The Nets scored 36 points in the second quarter, extending their lead to 15 points.

It was 66-54 at intermission, but Brooklyn jumped out of the locker room on a 14-2 run on Claxton's free throws to extend its lead to 24 points.

However, the Bucks ended the quarter with a 17-4 blitz, leaving Russell rested.

It was a carbon copy of the 102-101 loss to the Magic that started this road swing.

They led by as many as 21 points in the third quarter, and led by 17 points with 7 minutes and 16 seconds remaining, but they lost their composure and the game was over.

This time, Brooklyn pulled Milwaukee within 111-108 with a minute left.

Lillard then broke free and drove the lane, cutting the lead to 111-110.

But after the Nets were forced into an inside error by Antetokounmpo, Ziare Williams, playing his first game back after missing 12 games, grabbed a defensive rebound with 6.1 seconds left.

He calmly sank two free throws on the other end.