Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who have dropped two straight after winning their opener. Damian Lillard scored 21 points and Bobby Portis Jr. had 16 points and 10 boards.

While Cam Thomas scored 32 points, Dennis Schroder added 29 and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-102 on Sunday in their home opener to give coach Jordi Fernandez his first victory.

The Nets pulled away in the fourth quarter after opening with two road losses in their first season under Fernandez, a native of Badalona, Spain.

Active hands by the Nets’ wing defenders forced six Bucks turnovers, leading to easy transition buckets.

Still on a minutes restriction, Nic Claxton came off the bench and provided an instant boost to Brooklyn’s offense. A highlight-reel coast-to-coast finish from the $100 million big man pushed the Nets ahead by six, but an eight-point quarter from Damian Lillard resulted in a 27-25 Brooklyn advantage at the end of the first stanza.

The second quarter played witness to much of the same. Milwaukee committed another four turnovers, sparking a 10-0 run generated by Dennis Schröder’s back-to-back threes. There was an evident emphasis by the Nets to push virtually every opportunity they had, creating fast-break opportunities off of steals and missed shots in an attempt to wear down the Bucks’ defense.

The Nets found themselves outrebounded by seven, including nine courtesy of Antetokoumnp, but it didn’t reflect on the scoreboard. Despite another five points from Lillard, Brooklyn managed to hold onto a three-point lead at the halftime buzzer.

The Nets’ defensive rotations continued to look great through the third quarter. Their suffocating display, compounded with Schröder’s 22 points in 24 minutes, prevented Milwaukee from threatening Brooklyn’s lead.

Unlike in its previous matchups, the Bucks’ big man didn’t hurt the Nets from the interior. It was the complete opposite, as Brook Lopez connected on multiple attempts from deep in his Barclays Center homecoming.

Milwaukee completely unraveled in the final quarter. The Nets’ lead got as high as 22 as Schröder and Thomas continued to gash the Bucks’ defense sans Khris Middleton. The floodgates opened following a Pat Connaughton flagrant foul on Schröder, sending the veteran point guard to the line and pushing Brooklyn’s advantage to 11.

Milwaukee can’t be fully evaluated until Khris Middleton is back from ankle surgery. Coach Doc Rivers said the longtime starter is getting closer and could take another step with a good practice this week.

But he won’t solve the perimeter defense problems for a team that gave up 35 points to Chicago’s Coby White on Friday before getting burned by Thomas and Schroder on Sunday.

Antetokounmpo has made 30 of 45 shots this season (66.7%).

The Bucks visit unbeaten Boston on Monday in the second half of a back-to-back