After a back-and-forth second-round series, the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks battle one more time, with the winner advancing to the Eastern Conference finals. Injuries have loomed large in this series in which the home team has won each of the first six games.
Summary
After a back-and-forth second-round series, the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks battle one more time, with the winner advancing to the Eastern Conference finals.
Injuries have loomed large in this series in which the home team has won each of the first six games. Nets star Kyrie Irving is out for Game 7 due to an ankle injury, and after missing time due to an injured hamstring, James Harden is still working his way back to full strength.
The winner of Saturday's game will face the winner of the Philadelphia-Atlanta series (Game 7 of that one is Sunday night) in the conference finals beginning next week.
(Photo: Michael McLoone / USA Today)
Bucks beat Nets 115-111 , advance to Eastern Conference Finals
A legendary Kevin Durant performance ended anticlimactically, as he air-balled a 3-pointer while guarded by Jrue Holiday and Brooklyn down by two points in the game's closing moments. Durant scored 48 points on 17 of 34 shooting, while Giannis Antetokounmpo contributed 40 points and 12 rebounds for Milwaukee. The Bucks will play the winner of Game 7 between the Hawks and 76ers.
Advertisem*nt
Brown coming up big
Bruce Brown has been the unsung hero of this game, in my opinion. His college coach Jim Larranaga once told me there are so many things he does to help a team win. I think that's been on display tonight.
Free basketball!
By now, you've almost certainly seen the absurd Kevin Durant shot to tie the game and take us to overtime. He has now scored the most points ever in a Game 7 (48).
Durant makes franchise history
Kevin Durant (40 points) has tallied 403 points in this postseason, setting a franchise record for most points scored in a single postseason. KD has three 40-point games in this year's playoffs. All other Nets in the franchise's NBA history have combined for three 40-point games.
The Nets are up 101-96 with 3:46 left. Jeff Green is staying in the game as Blake Griffin sits.
High drama
Either you like rollercoasters or you don't. But Game 7s like this are the giant shoot-you-in-the-air-so-high-a-quarter-of-the-riders-pass-out catapult machines. Somebody is enough of a sicko to go for it.
Tucker in foul trouble
Jrue Holiday has five personal fouls. The last couple have been called on plays where he has fought over the top of a screen. He has made it clear to the officials he believes those screens are illegal.
P.J. Tucker has five as well.
Advertisem*nt
Nets usage
The Nets call timeout up 89-88 with 8:05 left. Blake Griffin has five fouls. How long do they keep him out? Jeff Green has played just six minutes and hasn't taken a shot.
Connaughton coming up big
Just a massive 3-pointer from Pat Connaughton at the end of the third quarter. After airballing his first 3-pointer, he has made three straight from deep. Two of them were near the end of the second quarter, so alongside the most recent 3, they've all come in big spots when the Bucks have desperately needed him.
Bucks lead Nets 82-81 heading into fourth quarter
The Nets offense started to get stagnant towards the end of the third. Brooklyn needs someone other than Durant to score in the fourth if they want their season to continue. My colleague Seth Partnow just said in our group chat that Brooklyn will look back at the close of the third quarter with a great deal of regret if they don't win this game.
Bucks adjusting
The Bucks have made a defensive adjustment matchup-wise to open the second half. Giannis Antetokounmpo has taken Bruce Brown after the Bucks used Brook Lopez in that role in the first half. Playing Antetokounmpo in that role allows the Bucks to switch any Harden or Durant pick-and-roll with Brown as the screener. I'm curious to see how quickly they switch to Griffin screening more in pick-and-roll. The threat there is more pick-and-pop looks for Griffin than him rolling to the rim.
Nets' shooting has been lacking
The Nets could use more 3-point shooting. They're shooting a shade under 30 percent, which isn't good enough given the looks they're getting. If Joe Harris or Landry Shamet can get hot, that could be the difference in the game. Seth alluded to Harris' recent cold streak earlier; Brooklyn needs their sharpshooter to catch fire again.
Advertisem*nt
All-out
All 10 starters are on pace to play 40 or more minutes. Plenty has been said over the years about extending Antetokounmpo's minutes in the postseason, so we won't rehash that here. But how much will the other guys have left down the end? Brook Lopez played over 36 minutes once all season. PJ Tucker hasn't played more than 34 since he was traded to Milwaukee. Game 3 of this series was the only time Bruce Brown has played more than 35. The 35 Blake Griffin played in Game 1 of this series was his most by some margin for Brooklyn. You get the point. If this game stays close into the fourth quarter, at some point one of the "others" will end up with an open shot and some very tired legs.
Middleton, Holiday need to step up
The Bucks are going to need more from Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday in the second half. They were a combined 4-of-22 from the field in the first half. Middleton still largely looked like himself with shots not falling, but Holiday looked genuinely uncomfortable taking jumpers in the first half. The Nets seem content fouling Antetokounmpo on every drive and forcing him to shoot free throws (4-of-8 in the first half) while making Middleton and Holiday beat them with jumpers.
Milwaukee's glass-half-full update
Neither team is doing much in the way of running sets, as this one has bogged down into a tug-of-war on a muddy field. But we saw only nine total turnovers in the first half. This is particularly important for Milwaukee, as just getting the ball up on the rim has been one of their better offensive weapons, with 10 offensive rebounds already for a 36.7% OREB rate.
Halftime update
The Nets lead the Bucks 53-47 at halftime after a Giannis Antetokounmpo transition layup was a millisecond late. Kevin Durant has led the way for Brooklyn with 20 points and James Harden has 12, eight of which came at the free-throw line. Giannis has scored 15 points for Milwaukee and Brook Lopez has added 12. The big differentiator: The Nets shot 48.7 percent from the field in the first two quarters, while the Bucks shot 38.3 percent.
No shortage of dribble jumpers
It can be hard to judge shot quality in real time, and the attempts are always going to look bad when the shot chart is a sea of red. But we've seen a lot of dribble jumpers from Milwaukee, and when those shots come from anyone but Middleton, that feels like a win for Brooklyn.
Advertisem*nt
Holiday's shooting
It's going to be interesting to watch Jrue Holiday the rest of the night. The Nets are essentially daring him to take jumpers after he went 1-of-10 from behind the 3-point line in Game 6. He hasn't shown much confidence on any of the 3-pointers he has attempted thus far.
Hey, Joe
Joe Harris making his first 3-pointer must have been a welcome sight for the Nets after he had gone 4-for-24 in the previous four games of this series. To illustrate how uncharacteristic this streak has been for Harris, prior to this series, he had only six four-game stretches all season where his cumulative 3FG% was below 40 percent, let alone down to almost 20 percent as he has been.
Free throws flowing for Brooklyn
The Nets went 16 minutes before their first foul shot in Game 6. They have nine in the first quarter compared to three for the Bucks
Load more updates
