NBA

Backups Thornton, Blatche fuel Nets to win

MILWAUKEE — The Nets got a big boost from their bench to close out their two-week road trip with a bang.

Behind a game-high 25 points from Marcus Thornton, who was playing in just his third game with the Nets, Brooklyn eventually managed to pull away and end the circus trip with a 107-98 victory over the Bucks in front of 14,801 inside the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

“[Thornton] can get hot in a hurry,” Deron Williams said with a smile. “For some reason they kept leaving him open — I don’t know why — but he had a heck of a game.”

It took Thornton a full week after being acquired in a trade with the Kings to make his debut with the Nets (28-29) after a nasty bout of food poisoning forced him to sit out both of the their games last weekend. But after getting his feet wet in Wednesday’s blowout loss in Portland, Thornton was pushed ahead of Alan Anderson in the rotation in Thursday’s win over the Nuggets, and given another early opportunity against the league-worst Bucks (11-47).

Known for his ability to score in bunches — as he did when he poured in 42 points while with the Kings against the Pacers earlier this season — Thornton showed Nets coach Jason Kidd exactly what he’s capable of against Milwaukee.

Thornton went a perfect 4-for-4 in the first half, and finished 8-for-13 overall and 4-for-7 from 3-point range. He also scored 12 of the Nets’ 30 fourth-quarter points.

“It feels good,” Thornton said. “It feels good to see a couple go through the basket, and it’s even better to have your teammates root for you at the same time.”

Despite the fact the Nets (28-29) were facing the league’s worst team, they never were able to get much separation, never leading by more than six in the first half before briefly going up by 11 a couple of times in the second half. Though the Bucks managed to hang around, the combination of Thornton and Andray Blatche ensured the Nets had a happy flight home.

The production from Blatche, who finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds in 29 minutes, was especially important because the Nets were missing Kevin Garnett, who sat out with back spasms. Rookie Mason Plumlee started in his place.

“I think it might have a started in the Denver game,” Kidd said of Garnett’s back trouble. “I don’t think it’s a long-term [problem]. This is his rest day, so we’ll get [Garnett] some proper rest and see how he feels [Sunday].”

Not only did the win help the Nets finish the six-game trip with a winning record, it also allowed them to remain two games behind the Wizards for fifth in the Eastern Conference and move 1¹/₂ games ahead of the Bobcats, who are in seventh.

The Nets finally return home to face the Bulls on Monday with a chance to move back to .500 for the first time since the first week of November.

But, most importantly, after two weeks on the road, they finally have a chance to go home.

“It was a good win for us,” said Williams, who finished with 15 points and four assists but, after a hot start, struggled with his shot after banging his right forearm trying to draw a charge on Bucks guard Ramon Sessions.

“A lot of times on long trips like this, you’ve been on the road for a couple of weeks and you have letdowns. That didn’t happen to us tonight, and we were able to get a big victory and make this trip even better.”