The Milwaukee Bucks have won another Eastern Conference showdown. At the Brooklyn Nets, the reigning champion wins 120-119 after overtime because Giannis Antetokounmpo keeps his nerve twice.
Brooklyn Nets (40-37) – Milwaukee Bucks (48-29) 119:120 OT (BOXSCORE)
Antetokounmpo finished the game with 44 points (14/21 FG, 15/19 FT), 14 rebounds and 6 assists, the 8 turnovers were the only blemish on an otherwise splendid performance. 3 seconds before the end of extra time, it was also the Greek who took heart after three converted free throws from Kevin Durant, stormed across the entire court and pulled a last shooting foul. The subsequent free throws also sat, Durant’s last three just smacked the ring.
And in the crunch time of the fourth quarter, the two-time MVP was the decisive player. 18.7 seconds before the end it was he who step-backed the game with his only three of the evening sent into overtime via Andre Drummond. It was also a historic strike for the Greek, who became the Bucks’ all-time leading scorer with those points, overtaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the process.
A lot spoke for the hosts five minutes before the end. The Nets regained the lead with a 7-0 run, after which Khris Middleton was ejected with a flagrant 2 foul when he refused to allow Nets guard Bruce Brown to transition and yanked his opponent out of the air. The Nets went up to +9, including an incredibly difficult three from Durant, but then the Nets went down to 2 points in the last four minutes.
Brooklyn Nets are treading water to the east
And so, through numerous drives, the champion fought his way back into a game he thought was lost, in which the Bucks showed anything but their best form. Milwaukee allowed themselves 23 turnovers, hitting just 12 of their 41 three-pointers (29.3 percent), but made up for this with solid defense over long stretches. The Nets sunk just over half of their attempts in the zone but sunk 49 percent from downtown (18/37).
Still, the Nets were ahead for most of the game, albeit never in double figures. Durant (26, 10/21, 11 assists) was more of a playmaker for a long time, and Brown (23, 8/17) used his passes several times for cuts and corner threes. Kyrie Irving, on the other hand, had no points in the first quarter but eventually posted 25 points (9/22 FG) in 45 minutes.
The Bucks got some offense from Pat Connaughton (11) in the first half, while Middleton (16, 4/12, 9 rebounds) and Jrue Holiday (19, 6/18, 6 steals) didn’t find a rhythm for a long time. However, the latter had some big plays in the fourth quarter and overtime, and the guard was wearing himself out on defense against Durant.
The win pushes Milwaukee back into second place in the East, but they need a win to finally secure a playoff ticket. It looks more problematic with the Nets, who remain eighth due to the defeat, but now have exactly the same balance sheet as Charlotte and Atlanta. In a possible three-team tiebreaker, however, the Nets have the best haul. That could change soon, after all, the Nets are guests in Atlanta on Sunday night.
