NEW YORK _ Avoiding a letdown was the mantra for the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday at the Barclays Center.
They were coming off a 17-point smackdown of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers and did not want to give anything back against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Bucks pulled away in the second half for a 111-93 victory behind a near triple-double from Giannis Antetokounmpo, who did not even play in the fourth quarter.
Milwaukee (9-8) won its third in a row and got the first of a two-game mini-series against Brooklyn, with the second game scheduled Saturday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Antetokounmpo finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while Jabari Parker added 22 points.
Tony Snell and Malcolm Brogdon each had 13 points and center John Henson had 12 points and eight rebounds.
The Bucks hit 15 of 34 3-pointers.
Brook Lopez paced the Nets (5-13) with 15 points and Sean Kilpatrick added 14. Brooklyn was coming off a double overtime victory against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.
Neither team could gain control in the first half and the Nets used a 6-0 run to pull within 52-51 at halftime.
The Bucks scored 38 points in the third quarter behind 11 points by Antetokounmpo and the hot 3-point shooting of Snell and Brogdon. Each hit a pair of triples in the quarter as Milwaukee grabbed a 90-78 lead entering the final period.
Bucks coach Jason Kidd used his reserves to start the fourth quarter and they had their struggles but eventually pushed the lead to 102-85. Mirza Teletovic sank three 3-pointers to help the cause and Jason Terry had a triple. Teletovic wound up with nine points and seven rebounds
