The Milwaukee Bucks are headed to the N.B.A.’s Jap Convention finals after defeating the Nets, 115-111, in extra time on Saturday night time in a decisive Sport 7 for his or her semifinal sequence.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the best way for the Bucks, scoring 40 factors and grabbing 13 rebounds, permitting Milwaukee to face up to one other masterful displaying from Kevin Durant, who countered with 48 factors and 9 rebounds of his personal.
Durant repeatedly exploited screen-and-rolls, and deftly used his post-up sport to befuddle the Bucks protection. The deafening Barclays Heart crowd roared when Durant hit a protracted jumper to tie the sport with 1 second left in regulation to ship the sport to extra time. However the Nets, whose bench gamers scored no factors and tried no pictures all sport, have been outscored in extra time, 6-2, and misplaced.
It was a disappointing finish to the sequence for the No. 2-seeded Nets, who entered the playoffs primed to make a championship run, with their stars eventually seemingly wholesome on the similar time. Their greatest three gamers — James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Durant — performed solely eight video games collectively through the common season due to accidents and different absences.
The Nets began the sequence favored towards the third-seeded Bucks, however as soon as once more, accidents to the celebrities piled up, rising the potential of an upset.
In Sport 1, James Harden left after lower than a minute due to a proper hamstring pressure. Nonetheless, the Nets received the primary two video games of the sequence at dwelling in convincing style.
Then the Bucks squeezed out a win at dwelling in Sport 3. And in Sport 4, the Nets misplaced Irving to a sprained ankle within the first half. The Nets additionally misplaced the sport and gave the impression to be dropping momentum with the best-of-seven sequence all of the sudden tied at two.
However in Sport 5, Durant put collectively one of many biggest playoff performances ever, ending with 49 factors, 17 rebounds and 10 assists and turning into the primary participant to document these numbers in a playoff sport. Harden surprisingly returned for that sport, however was largely ineffective. The Bucks led by as many as 17 factors, just for Durant to snuff out their lead virtually single-handedly within the second half. Jeff Inexperienced emerged to fill a few of the hole left by Irving, scoring a playoff-career-high 27 factors, essentially the most factors off the bench by a Internet in postseason historical past.
The Bucks struck again with sturdy performances from their stars in Sport 6, with Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Vacation scoring 89 of the Bucks’ 104 factors.
All through the sequence, the Nets tried to benefit from Antetokounmpo’s ineffectiveness as a shooter, a weak point that has vexed him all through a number of playoff runs. Defenders routinely left him open on the perimeter or despatched him to the free-throw line, the place he additionally struggled. That made Antetokounmpo, a two-time Most Helpful Participant Award winner, much less of a menace late in video games.
However Antetokounmpo nonetheless managed to have probably the greatest sequence of his profession. By the primary six video games, he averaged 30.5 factors and 12.8 rebounds per sport on 56.5 % taking pictures. It was adequate to get the Bucks to a Sport 7, and to the Jap Convention finals for the second time in Antetokounmpo’s profession.
The Nets had problem getting manufacturing from their function gamers, a lot of whom had profession years. Joe Harris, probably the greatest shooters within the N.B.A., struggled all sequence — taking pictures simply 35.5 % from the sphere and solely 32.5 % from 3 by the primary six video games.
The Bucks’ sequence win brings them one step nearer to profitable their first championship since 1971, when the staff was led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Within the Jap Convention finals, they’ll will face the winner of the opposite semifinal matchup, between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers. That matchup is headed to a Sport 7 on Sunday, after the Sixers tied the sequence behind a powerful efficiency from Seth Curry on Friday. The Jap Convention finals are set to start on Wednesday.
The Nets missed an opportunity to make their first convention finals since 2002 and 2003, after they have been in New Jersey led by Jason Kidd. Each of these years, the Nets went to the finals. They haven’t received a championship because the A.B.A. merged with the N.B.A. in 1976.