On January 8, Beijing time, the Nets sat at home to meet the defending champion Bucks, Irving could not play because of epidemic prevention regulations, and the Bucks, including Holliday, a number of major rotation players were absent due to health and safety agreements.
In the first quarter, the Bucks took the lead early. Matthews, who had just turned on contract, started with consecutive points, Portis hit consecutive hits from mid-range, and caused two fouls on Durant, making the individual score easy to double-double. Harden's offense was frustrated, and after a series of unsuccessful breakthroughs from the basket, Durant insisted on playing with two fouls on his back, shooting and causing a foul to score three points, surpassing Ewing's career total to rise to 23rd all-time, and then Durant caused a three-point foul on the outside. In the final moments of the first quarter, Alphabet Brother also shot into the middle distance to help the Bucks take an eight-point lead, and Harden scored zero in the single quarter.
In the second quarter, Harden broke through to get the first point of the game, the alphabet brother responded under the basket, Portis continued to hit the bottom corner of the three-pointer, Thomas faced the alphabet defense consecutive hits and throws, but Portis also scored consecutive points under the basket to stop the Nets. After the timeout, it was Still Portis who completed the second offensive basket, and the individual score was 20! Hood and Middleton then hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Bucks a double-digit lead.
In the final stages of the first half, Durant pulled out three points to stop the bleeding, Andra singled out Ade's three-point response, and at halftime, the Bucks extended their advantage to 11 points. Throughout the half, Portis played the absolute wizard to slash 20 points and 9 boards, and alphabet brother 12 points and 3 assists. On the Nets side, Harden scored only 6 points on 2-of-10 shooting, and Durant scored 19 points, 8 boards and 3 assists on 6-of-11 shooting. I have to say that the Nets without Irving really have no advantage in playing a strong team this season.