NBA: Bucks knock Nets off a Durant spike in Game 7 | NBA 2020

Antetokounmpo, who signed 40 points and 13 rebounds, was the 115-111 winner of a battle of the titans at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center against Durant.

In a dramatic seventh game with overtime, the Milwaukee Bucks from Giannis Antetokounmpo this Saturday they eliminated the Brooklyn Nets despite the hysterical performance of Kevin Durant and qualified for the final of the NBA Eastern Conference.

Antetokounmpo, who signed 40 points and 13 rebounds, emerged victorious 115-111 from a battle of titans en el Barclays Center de Brooklyn ante Durant, which finished with 48 points, the highest score in a seventh playoff game.

The superstar of the Nets, who was on the court for 53 minutes of the game, had forced extra time with a spectacular long shot almost over the horn.

“He is the best player in the world, I said it two days ago and I repeat it now,” he acknowledged. Antetokounmpo, who breathed a sigh of relief as he continued on to his long-awaited first Finals. “It has been a great step for this organization but the work is not done. That has been the message in the locker room,” stressed the two-time MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the NBA.

“When we know who the next opponent is, we have to put this behind us.” The Bucks will play their second conference final of the last three years against the Philadelphia 76ers o go Atlanta Hawks, which will also define their series in a seventh game on Sunday.

This elimination is a huge blow to the Nets, a modest team that managed to assemble three superstars (Durant, James Harden Y Kyrie Irving) with the sole objective of conquering the NBA ring.

When they have counted on their ‘Big 3’, the Nets They have been practically unstoppable but injuries plagued their figures all season, especially in this conference semifinal.

James Harden he had to leave the first game in the first minute after relapsing his hamstring problem and had to return urgently due to the sprained ankle suffered by Irving in the fourth.

Harden, who played very limited by his muscle problem, scored 22 points Saturday but with a 5/17 statistic negative on shooting from the field. “It’s very frustrating for me,” said the NBA’s three-time leading scorer. “We gave what we could but we suffered injuries all year … We have to take care of our body and be ready for the next season.”

DurantOn the other hand, he downplayed the impact of the injuries suffered and underlined the level shown by his rivals. “Every team has been through adversity this season,” said the two-time NBA winner with the Warriors.

“I’m sure other teams have been through the same thing as us.” “You have to give Milwaukee credit. They are a great team and they have a lot of options to win the championship. We had good chances in overtime but they didn’t make it,” said Durant, who also had 4 triples, 9 rebounds and 6 assists.

A duel of maximum tension

Tension hovered over the game from the start at the Barclays Center where, whatever the outcome, one of the leading contenders for the title was to suffer an early elimination. With Kyrie Irving street dress on the bench, the Nets see with relief how Harden He looked improved from his physical problems, with more mobility than in previous games.

With little support from his squires, Giannis Antetokounmpo He had all the pressure on him and the public tried to exploit his insecurity from the free throw line (8/14 in the game), getting to make two shots that did not even touch the rim. Your two best allies, Middleton (23 points) and Jrue Holiday (13), came to the break with a disastrous 4/22 statistics in field goals.

Durant concentrated on his shoulders the attack of Brooklyn, which reached the break with a slight advantage of six points (53-47). The Bucks They came back strong from the locker room and achieved a 12-2 run with which they took a 59-55 lead, with Giannis finding an ally in Middleton, who finally entered the party. Harden, on the other hand, was turning off physically and began to miss triple after triple (2/12 total).

The game came just one point apart from the Bucks to a last quarter of a heart attack. Durant I approached the Nets to two points with 30 seconds to play and Middleton I missed the next triple but Holiday managed to rebound. With only 2.1 seconds of possession for Milwaukee, Holiday served from the baseline for the pvot Brook Lopez that, instead of pitching, he tried to assist Middleton but ran out of time.

The error of Bucks He left 6 seconds for a last play to Durant, who nailed an unlikely launch on the same line of three at the half turn to send the game to overtime (109-109) amid the explosion of joy from the fans of the Los Angeles fans. Nets.

By centimeters, the draft of Durant It was not a triple that would have given victory to the Nets. With both teams extremely nervous and tired, overtime was a collection of errors in which the Bucks they managed to get back to the last minute in advantage and, this time, Durant could not work another miracle.

“I don’t know what else Kevin could do, what he did is out of this world,” his coach acknowledged, Steve Nash.