The Brooklyn Nets fought hard without the strength of the “Big 3”, but in the end the Milwaukee Bucks wanted it more when they faced each other in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The matchup looked promising for Brooklyn after winning Game 5, 114-108 at home, but the Bucks took advantage on their home court and defeated the Nets 89-104 in game 6. The Bucks brought the energy back to Brooklyn as the Nets lost game 7, 115-111 in overtime at Barclays Center as the Milwaukee Bucks advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.
“We got to give credit to the Milwaukee Bucks,” said Kevin Durant after Game 7. “They’re a great, great team. They got a great chance to win the championship. The story should be about them and how well they played this series, how well they played all year. We got good looks there in overtime. We just didn’t knock them down.”
Something ignited the Bucks following Game 2. Maybe it was the doubters that thought the Bucks couldn’t defeat the “Big 3”. Heated exchanges took place in Games 1 and 2. Maybe the Bucks woke up after Blake Griffin imitated the infamous “step over” as he walked over Thanasis Antetokounmpo in Game 1. Reminiscent of Allen Iverson stepping over Tyronn Lue in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA finals. The Bucks looked like they were out for vengeance after that game. Giannis Antetokounmpo came back stronger as he hit shots, although he struggled from the free throw line. He drove towards the basket, instead of settling for jump shots, knocking down Nets players in Games 3 and 4. He had 11 total rebounds in Game 1 and 14 total rebounds in Game 3.
The Nets had to step it up in Game 5 without Kyrie Irving who rolled his ankle in game 3. James Harden missed the first four games of the series after straining his right hamstring only 43 seconds into game 1. Harden did return in game 5 but was a shell of himself as the hamstring limited his mobility. Harden was used more as a decoy trying to get his teammates involved in the offense.
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Game 7 was a close game throughout as the Nets missed shots at critical moments. The Nets were ahead 53-47 at halftime. The Bucks made their comeback taking a 2-point lead going into the final quarter. A clutch 2-point shot by Durant (replays confirmed it was not a 3-pointer) helped the Nets stay in the game, as the teams went into overtime tied at 109. Joe (Invisible Man after game 2) Harris missed his two OT attempts while Durant missed all four of his. Durant’s last attempt came with .11 seconds left in their season.
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
Bucks Khris Middleton missed a short jumper with Durant coming down with the rebound. First year head coach Steve Nash had one time out left which he could have used it to set up a play. Nash chose not to use it. Durant races up court, draped by Jrue Holiday. He steps back, hoisting up the three-point attempt and gets nothing but air. A simple Durant spin would have given him a clear path to the basket. Worse comes to worse, he gets fouled or ties the game with a lay-up or shorter jump shot.
Said Nash afterwards, “you’re missing Kyrie (Irving), James is on one leg, you have to understand it’s not the same. And so I still thought we could win it and clearly I think we proved tonight that we could. Game could have gone either way. I think we just faced one too many obstacles this year because I thought our guys gave it everything they had.”
The Nets connected on 46.4% of their shots from the field compared to the Bucks 43.9%. Brooklyn made 30.8% percent of their 3-point shots, while the Bucks made 41.7% of their 3-point shots.
Durant led the Nets with 48 points. Harden had 22 points. Blake Griffin led the Nets with 11 total rebounds. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 40 points and 13 total rebounds.
The Bucks took on The Atlanta Hawks last night in game 1 of the Eastern Conference championship.
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