Losses of competition, losses of competition, losses of competition. (And player development for the young guys.) It was two games, but even before the regular season began, the goal for the Brooklyn Nets was crystal clear.

With two notable exceptions: when they play the Milwaukee Bucks and when they play the New York Knicks. It's not the well-deserved disdain Brooklyn has for Giannis Antetokounmpo and his enemies across the East River, but the fact that Brooklyn owns every one of their 2025 NBA draft picks. Also first-rounders, you may have heard that.

There's plenty of time to tank this season, but the home opener against a team whose draft pick controls Brooklyn? This was the time to achieve a victory… And Play the young people. Not to mention when the new head coach is supposed to get his first win.

In this sense, the first half went smoothly. Following his reduced minutes in Orlando and a message from Jordi Fernández, Jalen Wilson was the first Net off the bench on Sunday night, despite only playing a total of 14 minutes. Keon Johnson caught Shake Milton's burnout despite not doing much in his eight minutes.

Most importantly, the Nic Claxton + Noah Clowney leadup confirmed the optimism it has instilled in fans since the spring. Claxton looked like himself for the first time ever, making particularly strenuous plays while protecting the rim and also scattering from coast to coast…

Claxton played 20 minutes, which Brooklyn won by 23 points, and finished the game with a double-double and two blocks. But his lineups wouldn't have been nearly as effective without Noah Clowney, who scored 13 points, including three triples and one of the most impressive finishes of his young career…

He and Ziaire Williams, in addition to their size and length, supported Clax with just enough offense to cause Milwaukee real problems.

The visitors missed their share of open jumpers and Giannis (three shots) clearly saved for a second-half takeover, but Brooklyn's 48-45 lead at halftime was no fluke. They shot just 7 of 23 from distance but dominated the battle of possession by refusing to turn the ball over. It was really good basketball, especially from the bench.

“We were solid,” Claxton told YES Network’s Meghan Triplett at halftime. “(But) it was also solid in the first half in the first two games. We just have to do it for 48 minutes.”

Although the third quarter had a very different feel, Brooklyn also won that period by the highest score. Giannis and Damian Lillard started cooking while Brook Lopez – who scored 15 points on nine shots – remained efficient, but the Nets' guards also got going.

Dennis Schröder divided his 29 points evenly between the two halves, and instead of waiting until the fourth quarter, Thomas caught up a little earlier, scoring 14 of his game-high 32 points in the third…

Despite all the highlights, Fernández called Thomas' “commitment” the most impressive part of his evening. “He talked to his teammates, talked to me all the time. He was very good on both sides, very committed. That's what I want to see from CT and I want to see that growth. We give you the ball because we now know your superpowers; Can you do it efficiently? Can you improve your teammates? Can you guard? So all of those things: He’s doing well right now, and I’m going to continue to push him to do better.”

It is true that midway through the fourth period he substituted Cam Johnson (who was very good), Dorian Finney-Smith and Ben Simmons – who did not comply with his head coach's request to take “10 to 15 shots per game” (1- from-3) – back to…

…but the game was decided in Brooklyn's favor. And the line-up that decided this was clear.

The shot creation of Schröder and Thomas was beautifully complemented by the activity of Clowney, Claxton and Williams, who extended the lead to 15 with a put-back dunk and acted as an unofficial dagger. Milwaukee took a timeout and shuffled aimlessly along the sideline, staring into the distance.

But there was no denying it. They were hit hard by the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night. No luck in shooting, no bad breaks, just one defeat. Thomas and Schröder were efficient and explosive in the second half, and when Giannis tried to get his act together, Brooklyn flew around and then turned it into an offense…

Jordi Fernández celebrated his first victory as a head coach as his team fulfilled every head coach's dream.

The Brooklyn Nets have taken more shots than the Milwaukee Bucks. They took more threesomes. They grabbed more offensive rebounds and turned the ball over less. They shot better from the free throw line.

The Nets won a basketball game and it felt pretty good.

Final score: Brooklyn Nets 115, Milwaukee Bucks 102

Milestone clock

Cam Thomas is now averaging 30.7 points per game…and 23.3 in the second half. Start there:

• The record for most points on net in the team's first three games is held by Kyrie Irving with 113. Second is Cam Thomas with 99 last year… and fifth is Thomas with 92 this year. Only three players in Nets history averaged 30.0 points per game in the team's first three games: Irving, Thomas and Kevin Durant.
• Cam Thomas (32 points) and Dennis Schroder (29 points) scored 25+ points in the same game for the second time as teammates (previously: 3/29/24 vs. Chicago).
• Nic Claxton (10 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks) recorded Net's first double-double this season.
• Two-player Cui Yongxi and Jaylen Martin played their first NBA game and scored their first NBA points (Cu1, one on a free throw; Martin, three on a 3-pointer).

• Box Score: Brooklyn Nets 115, Milwaukee Bucks 102 – NBA

• Game Highlights: Brooklyn Nets 115, Milwaukee Bucks 102 (Video) – NBA