Basket Ball / Sports

Bucks begin title defense with 127-104 victory over Nets

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t let the celebration of the franchise’s first NBA championship in half a century distract them as they opened their title defense.

In his first game since scoring 50 points in a title-clinching Game 6 NBA Finals victory over the Phoenix Suns, Antetokounmpo had 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Bucks to a 127-104 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.

”We’re part of history,” Antetokounmpo said. ”I’m excited. But now it’s over with. We’ve got to focus on building good habits, keep moving forward and keep playing good basketball and hopefully we can repeat this again this year, next year and all the years that we’re going to be here down the road.”

Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton each added 20 points to help the Bucks withstand the loss of Jrue Holiday, who sat out the second half with a bruised right heel after scoring 12 points. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said MRI results on Holiday were encouraging.

Kevin Durant led the Nets with 32 points and 11 rebounds. Patty Mills scored 21 points and shot 7 of 7 from 3-point range. James Harden added 20 points.

”We weren’t very good,” Brooklyn coach Steve Nash said. ”If you’re not playing at a high level against the champs, you’re not going to win.”

The Nets were missing star guard Kyrie Irving, who isn’t with the team due to his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

A New York mandate requires professional athletes on local teams to be vaccinated to practice or play in public venues. Rather than using Irving exclusively in road games, the Nets decided he wouldn’t play or practice with them at all until he could be a full participant.

After receiving their rings, raising a banner and watching a highlight video of their first NBA championship since 1971, the Bucks defeated the team that nearly eliminated them in the second round of the playoffs. Antetokounmpo acknowledged that he teared up a little bit during the pregame …

Basket Ball / Sports

Khris Middleton helps Milwaukee force a Game 7

We have another Game 7 on our hands. The Milwaukee Bucks led wire-to-wire to defeat the Brooklyn Nets 104-89 to keep their championship hopes alive.

Kevin Durant put up big numbers again as he finished the loss with 32 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way for the Nets. His standout effort wasn’t enough though as Milwaukee’s big three of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday combined for 89 points, 35 rebounds and 13 assists to avoid being eliminated on their home floor.

With the win, the Bucks and Nets will now face off in a winner take all Game 7 matchup at Barclays Center on Saturday. The time of that showdown has yet to be determined. For now, here are the three most important takeaways from Game 6.

1. Giannis, the center

Remember when Giannis Antetokounmpo attempted eight 3-pointers in Game 3? Yea, he doesn’t either. For the first time all postseason, the two-time MVP did not attempt a 3-pointer. In fact, only five of his 20 shot attempts came outside of the paint. In the early portion of this series, the Nets somehow tricked Giannis into playing like a guard. That’s not who he is. He’s a center, and the Bucks are at their best when he plays like one.

Aside from a game in which Antetokounmpo got injured 46 seconds in, he had only played two other games this season without attempting a 3. The Game 6 win pushed Milwaukee to 3-0 when he doesn’t, with a point-differential of plus-63. They went undefeated when he didn’t try a 3 last season as well. In fact, excluding games in which he got injured, the Bucks have now won their last 10 games in which he did not try a 3-pointer. The last time they lost under those circumstances? April 24, 2018. The Bucks need Giannis in attack mode, and he was on Thursday.

That being said, they greased the wheels a bit with their lineup choices as well. In the first five games of the series, …

Basket Ball / Sports

Durant scores 49 as Brooklyn Nets take 3-2 series lead against Milwaukee Bucks

Kevin Durant scored 49 points as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 114-108 to take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semi-final series.

Durant also came up with 17 rebounds and 10 assists to inspire victory after the Nets were 17 points down in the third quarter.

He hit a three-pointer and three free throws late on to seal the win.

Nets coach Steve Nash said Durant’s display “makes him one of the all-time greats”.

Milwaukee’s two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, who top-scored for the Bucks with 34 points, called Durant “the best player in the world right now”.

LeBron James, widely regarded as one of basketball’s finest players of all time, also praised Durant on social media.

In what Nets coach Nash said would go down as one of Durant’s “signature” games, the power forward played all 48 minutes, shot 16-of-23 from the floor and finished just shy of his play-off career high of 50 points.

It did, however, set a franchise record for points in a play-off game, surpassing Vince Carter’s mark of 43 points set 15 years ago.

He also posted his second career post-season triple-double and joined Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson, Charles Barkley and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic as the fourth player with at least 40 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a play-off game.

The Nets relied heavily on Durant in game five of their best-of-seven series after Kyrie Irving was injured in the previous game and James Harden had a quiet night on his return from injury.…

Basket Ball / Sports

Bucks Take Game 3 to keep the fight going

Mike Budenholzer could probably feel his job security hanging in the air for three scoreless minutes.

Kevin Durant could taste the thievery of a third game when a 30-footer left his hand, looking on line.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton could remember the frustration of humble beginnings, both arriving in Milwaukee eight years ago and combining to do just enough to stave off extinction.

The Fiserv Forum crowd went from the obscene to a wild scene, fearful Thursday night would be a cruel conclusion: Grand opening, grand closing.

The tension was palpable as the Milwaukee Bucks weren’t just dealing with a “win or go home” situation, but “win or start over,” avoiding disaster and a 3-0 deficit to the Brooklyn Nets with an ugly 86-83 win.

It seemed the Bucks were begging to be put out of their own misery, unable to put the Nets away after a start that gave the impression they would return the favor from absorbing a Game 2 thrashing.

But the despair was in the air whenever Antetokounmpo launched one of his eight stress-inducing 3-pointers, continuing his woeful trend. It’s somewhat of a mind game with him, wanting to make Blake Griffin and the Nets pay for giving him that much space — all the while ignoring the interior hell he unleashed early before Middleton and Jrue Holiday saved them late.

This infatuation with the perimeter seems to parallel his hesitance at the foul line, where he missed five of his nine attempts and was called for a 10-second (actually 13-second) violation. It’s the worst time to fall in love with a shot you can’t make because of shots you don’t want to take, two patterns that are unlikely to change in this series.

Budenholzer said it would be a test of Milwaukee’s character, considering they were smarting after two losses in Brooklyn. Nobody questioned their competitiveness, but nobody expected a throwback game to the ugliest part of the ’90s either.

Brook Lopez blocked six shots and P.J. Tucker riled things up by getting …

Basket Ball / Sports

James Harden triple-double leads Nets past Celtics

The Brooklyn Nets are headed to the second round. The Eastern Conference’s second seed completed a gentleman’s sweep against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. All three of the Nets’ stars put together strong performances, but James Harden led the way in the 123-109 victory.

Harden did a little bit of everything as usual and led all scorers with 34 points in a triple-double effort. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists to finish with a game-high 75.5 DKFP. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant poured in 25 and 24 points, respectively. Boston’s lone star wasn’t enough to keep up with one of the NBA’s most productive offenses. Jayson Tatum only trailed Harden in points with 32 to go along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Tatum tallied 55.25 DKFP in a game-high 41 minutes.

The Nets covered the spread by the skin of their teeth as 12.5-point favorites. The absences of Kemba Walker and Robert Williams gave the home team a major edge, and it handled business for Brooklyn backers.

The Nets will take on the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round. Milwaukee lost its first matchup against Brooklyn two-thirds of its Big 3 were active, but won the next two matchups. Milwaukee’s offense and defense dominated the Miami Heat in a sweep in the first round thanks to far above-average offense and defense. Keeping that up against the NBA’s best scoring offense will be a challenge, but Giannis Antetokounmpo and company might have the tools to pull an upset off…

Basket Ball / Sports

Nba Playoff Updates

Nets vs. Celtics score: Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving in perfect sync as Brooklyn takes 2-0 lead

 

In Game 1, Brooklyn’s Big 3 of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving took eight 3-pointers each. In Game 2, they took 12 total shots each. The balance these guys are showing, the feel for playing in harmony, is incredible when you consider they only suited up for eight total games together during the regular season.

On Tuesday, Durant led the way with 26 points, while Harden finished with 20 and Irving 15. They shot a collective 20-for-36 from the field, including 7-of-13 from beyond the arc and 14-for-14 from the free-throw line. Because the stars are playing such an efficient, balanced brand of offense, the Nets were able to get everyone involved in Game 2 to the tune of 31 team assists. When you have this kind of individual scoring and you’re still racking up 30-plus assists, you’re really onto something.

 

Through the first seven minutes on Tuesday, Harris was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc for 16 points. He finished the first half 5-for-7 from deep for 22 points in 15 minutes. He was a plus-29 for the game.

Harris would be a fantastic shooter and player on any team, but with all the attention that Durant, Harden and Irving command, he’s borderline unfair on the Nets. No shooter who hit 47.5 percent of his 3s in the regular season (as Harris did on over six attempts per game) should get the number of open looks that Harris gets, but what other choice does Boston, or any other defense for that matter, have?

Harris found his looks in a variety of ways. In transition:

Obviously, the Celtics need Tatum to do more than play; they need him to play like a superstar if they want to have a chance to get back in this series. Tatum finished Game 2 with nine points on 3-of-12 shooting. Suffice it to say, that’s not going to get it done.

Tatum

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