GOOD TIMES: C.J. Watson celebrates with Deron Williams during the Nets’ 97-94 victory over the Bucks last night in Milwaukee. (AP)
MILWAUKEE — For the second straight night, the Nets beat the Bucks.
And, for the second straight night, it wasn’t easy.
The surging Nets (33-22), who are a game behind the Knicks in the Atlantic Division, wound up beating the Bucks 97-94 in front of 14,563 inside the BMO Harris Bradley Center, but not after first erasing a double-digit deficit with a furious fourth-quarter rally, only to nearly blow an 11-point lead in the final two minutes.
“Every game isn’t going to be pretty, and you’re going to have some of these grind-it-out games,” said Deron Williams, who finished with 23 points and eight assists. “But we were able to fight back and keep our composure and get a win.”
After spending the majority of the first three quarters looking like they hadn’t gotten out of bed, the Nets finally woke up at the end of the third quarter. Following a Mike Dunleavy free throw that put the Bucks up 76-65 with 1:02 remaining in the third, the Nets immediately went on a 14-0 run that stretched into the fourth, giving them the lead for the first time since the game’s opening moments.
The Nets, who have won four in a row, made that run — which stretched to 29-7 at one point — with their starters mostly watching from the bench. MarShon Brooks, after sitting for the entire game until then, scored seven points during that stretch when starters Deron Williams, Gerald Wallace, Brook Lopez and Reggie Evans were on the bench.
“We were going to need our bench, and our bench stepped up and played well,” Wallace said.
But after Williams hit a 3-pointer to give the Nets a 94-83 lead with 1:54 remaining and send the fans streaming for the exits, the Bucks stormed back with an 11-3 run to close the deficit to 97-94, and they had the ball with less than five seconds left.
Then, after the ball was inbounded to Monta Ellis, Deron Williams fouled the Bucks guard on a 3-point attempt with 2.4 seconds left.
“If I pushed him, I definitely didn’t push him enough for him to go flying out of bounds,” Williams said.
But Ellis missed the first two free throws before intentionally missing the third, with the Nets then grabbing the rebound and securing the win.
“It worked out in the end,” Williams said with a smile. “I planned it. … I knew he was going to miss the free throws.”
Deron to get cortisone shots
After the game, Williams said he will be getting a cortisone shot in each of his ankles today, a continuation of the plasma-rich platelet treatment he received last week.
“Pretty good. I felt pretty good,” he said, making sure to point out that it was planned, not a setback. “I’m actually going to get cortisone shots tomorrow. I never got the cortisone shots.”
“They didn’t want to do them at the same time, because you want to see what the PRP does, and then from there you have the cortisone to just calm everything down. That will be another big plus for me.”
Williams has dealt with issues with both ankles all season, which he said originated over the summer from overuse. Williams got a cortisone shot in his left ankle back in October toward the end of training camp.