MILWAUKEE — Last week, Nets general manager Billy King said he wanted to take the final six games before the All-Star break to see where the Nets stood before deciding what to do with the roster leading up to the Feb. 19 trade deadline.
But after the Nets lost 103-97 to the Bucks Monday night, they headed to Memphis for the final game before the break against the Grizzlies with as many questions as they had a week ago.
"I can't comment on what Billy is trying to do," Nets coach Lionel Hollins said before the game. "All I'm saying is we're trying to build consistency as a group.
"If we can stay healthy and have some continuity, we'll be able to have a better view of where we can be and what our needs really are. But when you have guys in and out of the lineup with injuries and you're not playing very well, it's hard to justify doing anything."
After the Nets (21-30) won the first three games of these final six before the break, including impressive victories over the Clippers and Raptors, they got blown out in Washington Saturday before heading to Milwaukee to face Jason Kidd's Bucks.
And unlike the first game between these teams in Brooklyn back in November, which went to triple-overtime before Milwaukee emerged with a win, the Bucks (29-23) took over after a sluggish start, using their youth and athleticism to run the Nets off the court.
It had looked like it would be the Nets who would be in control early, hitting about 70 percent of their shots through the first 16 minutes and taking a 41-24 lead on a 3-pointer by Bojan Bogdanovic with 7:45 remaining in the second quarter.
From there, though, Milwaukee dominated. Over the next 19 minutes, the Bucks outscored the Nets 52-25, as Brooklyn committed 10 turnovers — several on poor passes snatched by Milwaukee's long-armed wing combo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton — and went into the fourth quarter with a 79-68 lead.
The Nets got back into the game in the fourth quarter, cutting the Bucks' lead to five on multiple occasions, but by then the damage had already been done, as Milwaukee became the latest quick, athletic team to give the Nets fits this season.
The result leaves the Nets staring at the distinct possibility of following their three-game winning streak with a three-game losing skid — Memphis is one of the best teams in the league, and was resting at home while the Nets played Monday — and with plenty left to decide before the trade deadline.
Of the team's three high-priced stars — Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez — the most moveable is Lopez, who could opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer.
But Lopez has been playing quite well lately for the Nets, who with the loss are a game behind the Heat for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. And with the Nets not having control over their draft pick — they'll be engaging in a pick swap with the league-leading Hawks as part of the trade that brought Johnson to Brooklyn in July of 2012 — it wouldn't make much sense for them to give him away.
In Hollins' eyes, however, this evaluation period is about a lot more than the next two weeks.
"Who said we were going to trade?" Hollins said. "We've got the offseason. This is a process that's moving well forward … [it's] not shortsighted, but long-sighted.
"I'm not thinking about the trade deadline. I'm thinking about how we go for the last 30 games after the All-Star break and see where we are and where we need to go."
But for the Nets, nothing about the future is clear. With owner Mikhail Prokhorov selling the team a distinct possibility, it's hard to say anything for certain about what this team will look like a year from now.
That all makes it hard to decipher exactly what the Nets will do over the next 10 days — and makes the decision about what to do equally difficult.
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