Nets’ Ben Simmons on close loss to Bucks: ‘the level we want to play at’
Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has been a part of winning teams for most of his career so he knows what good basketball teams look like. He also knows that the Nets have a ways to go in terms of their nightly play if they want to go places this season.
On Monday, the Nets lost 129-125 to the Milwaukee Bucks, one of the teams expected to compete for the championship due to the acquisition of superstar guard Damian Lillard. As is becoming customary to the Nets fanbase, Brooklyn battled for the majority of the game and even built up a 10-point lead with 5:16 left in the third quarter.
However, despite getting 76 points combined from Cam Thomas (45 points) and Mikal Bridges (31 points), the Nets fell in the end due to a couple of plays that didn’t get their way. In this latest edition, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who put up 36 points and 12 rebounds, made some huge defensive plays down the stretch that prevented Brooklyn from tying the game when it mattered.
According to Simmons, the Nets are showing that they can play with some of the top teams in the NBA, but they have to raise their game to a different level if they are going to turn some of these losses into victories:
“I mean, that’s going to be standard for us, you know? This is the level we want to play at. So, we’re ready to compete and I think every game that we play is going to be a closer game given the guys that are out right now (and) the things that we’re dealing with but, we have the the bodies.”
