Something has to give when Jason Kidd makes another return to Brooklyn on Friday night.
His injury-plagued Milwaukee Bucks have dropped a season-high nine straight on the road while the Brooklyn Nets have lost four in a row at home.
Kidd has won all five times he has coached in this matchup. He went 44-38 and reached the second round of the playoffs last season with Brooklyn, going 3-0 against Milwaukee along the way. Kidd sought more power within the organization, paving the way for general manager Billy King to deal him to Milwaukee for second-round draft picks in 2015 and 2019 on June 30.
The coach was loudly booed and taunted as a traitor Nov. 19 in his return to the borough when Milwaukee (34-34) won 122-118 in triple overtime. The Bucks also beat Brooklyn 103-97 at home Feb. 9.
Those contests may not foretell much about this one since Brandon Knight was the Bucks' starting point guard. Knight was dealt Feb. 19, and Milwaukee has gone 4-11 since with eight of its losses in this road slide in that span.
Milwaukee is without forward Jared Dudley, who has been bothered by back spasms, and guard O.J. Mayo, who has a sore right hamstring.
Jerryd Bayless has totaled 26 points in two games after missing three with an ankle problem. Michael Carter-Williams has also been bothered by ankle problems.
Carter-Williams' teams have dropped 12 straight road games since his last win, ironically at Brooklyn with Philadelphia on Jan. 9.
That may not be surprising since the Nets (27-39) are a league-worst 3-11 at home since the start of January.
Brooklyn finished a 2-2 trip with Wednesday's 117-92 loss to Cleveland in which the Nets were outscored by 24 in the middle two quarters.
"Every loss is deflating to a point but we came out, we were ready, we competed and we were right there, they just went in a way that we couldn't match up," coach Lionel Hollins said.
That same night, the Bucks lost their fourth straight overall, 114-103 at home to San Antonio. The Spurs finished with 27 assists to eight turnovers.
Kidd preached patience afterward, with his team still in control of sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
"Energy and effort, we gotta put more effort into the game," Kidd said. "I think we have 14 games left. So there's plenty of time. Take one game at a time, we're in the six spot, continue to get better and we gotta get healthy."
His Bucks are near the bottom of the league with 17.0 turnovers per game since the All-Star break.
"We're a young team and we're going to make mistakes and you can see that," Kidd said.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 17.5 points on 54.1 percent shooting in his last six games, and Khris Middleton is averaging 18.7 in his past seven.
Carter-Williams will see a familiar face in former 76ers teammate Thaddeus Young, acquired Feb. 19 from Minnesota. Young is averaging 15.5 points since becoming a starter in the last six games.
The Nets have dropped eight of their last 10 at home against the Bucks, who haven't been under .500 since they were 15-16 on Dec. 27.
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