Tonight two matches were between the teams in top position.
No.2 in the Eastern Conference, Brooklyn Nets faced No.3 Milwaukee Bucks. Both the team contenders for the Championship. Likely the match will be tough.
Just as predicted both the teams gave each other tough competition and ultimately Bucks stunned the Nets, defeating 114-112.
Showing that basketball is unpredictable and full of surprises till the end.
The Brooklyn Nets started strong taking the lead in the first quarter with 9 points but soon Milwaukee bounced back in the second quarter.
Ultimately, the Bucks winning at the end of the regulation with two points over the No.2.
Brooklyn Nets strong start
Kevin Durant returned to the lineup of the Nets after missing a match to take a rest.
Similarly, Giannis also returned for the Bucks after the injury in the last match against the Houston Rockets.
The match also showed an epic duel between these two players with both finishing with 40 plus points.
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Giannis made the dunk over Kevin Durant on the alley-oop from Khris Middleton to start the night.
The Nets quickly answered right back with Joe Harris knocking down a three pointer.
And Milwaukee tying all up at 4-4.
Then the game went back and forth with the Nets and the Bucks again tied with 7:35 remaining in the 1st quarter.
Kevin Durant shot a jumper and De Andre Jordan blocked Middleton shot to start 8-0 run taking the largest lead of the quarter with 8 points.
Giannis cut the lead to 4 point with 4:59 remaining.
The Bucks trailed the Brooklyn Nets throughout the quarter after that. At 2:03 remaining in the quarter, the Nets lead by 11 point.
Then after each shot made by the Bucks, the Nets answered right back.
The Nets took the lead with 9 points after the Bucks Middleton shot the last three-pointer of the quarter to end the quarter 37-28.
The Bucks took the lead in the second quarter.
Entering the second quarter, the Bucks started with hot shooting, cutting the lead to three-point with 6-0 run before Durant started 5-0 run in back to back possession.
Durant and Giannis dueled back and forth going 44-36 with 6:45 remaining in the second quarter.
Giannis then fired up scoring baskets to cut the lead to three points at 47-44 after two minutes.
However Joe Harris answered with three-pointer taking the lead back to 6 points.
But then the Nets paced up cutting the lead to 1 points making a 5-0 run where Connaughton stole the ball from Durant and PJ Tucker scoring a three-pointer from behind the arc.
Jrue Holiday tied the game at 52-52 with 3:20 remaining.
Forbes took the lead for the Bucks for the first time in the game after scoring a long three-pointer.
Subsequently Forbes again shot a long three pointer with 26.7 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
The Bucks took the lead entering the half with 59-62.
Giannis hot shooting in the third quarter.
In the third quarter, Giannis exploded, answering every buckets of the Nets.
The Nets scored the first shot of the third quarter with Jeff green‘s bucket. But Giannis answered right back with a three-pointer.
In the next possession of the Bucks, Giannis scored again with a jumper.
🏀 FINAL SCORE THREAD 🏀
Giannis erupts for a season-high 49 POINTS as the @Bucks top Brooklyn in a thriller!
Khris Middleton: 26 PTS, 11 REB
Jrue Holiday: 18 PTS
Kevin Durant: 42 PTS, 10 REB, 7 3PM pic.twitter.com/YWy1Jqno6F— NBA (@NBA) May 2, 2021
Durant hit a three-pointer to answer Giannis bucket but Giannis answered right back with three-pointer of his own.
The Bucks star was unstoppable scoring again on Donte DiVincenzo pass.
Irving and Durant teamed up scoring back to back buckets but Giannis just didn’t hold back and scored again.
Forbes score a three-pointer on Giannis pass to keep the Nets trailing the score.
But with a minute and half remaining in the third quarter Kevin Durant scored a three-pointer taking the lead for the first time in the third quarter after trailing as much as by 7 points.
The Nets Landry Shamet hits a three-pointer to keep the lead at 90-88 before Giannis jumper tied the game 90-90 with 35.3 seconds remaining.
Bucks Brook Lopez blocked Kevin Durant to enter the fourth quarter with a tie game.
Milwaukee Bucks strong finish
The Nets Blake Griffin started the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to take the lead a minute into the game.
Shamet scored another three-pointer in the next possession to extend the lead to 6-points before Middleton answered with the first bucket for the Bucks.
Middleton drew a foul and scored a bucket from behind the arc to tie the game 96-96.
Giannis and Holiday scored back to back buckets to take the lead with 7:20 remaining in the game.
The Bucks made 10-3 run making the score 106-99.
Likewise the Nets trailed the bucks throughout the quarter with last minute full of hustle.
Kyrie Irving scored a bucket to cut the lead and make it four-point game with 57.0 seconds remaining.
Durant fell short to hit a three pointer in 2.6 seconds remaining with Middleton taking the ball and ending the game with 117-114.
Giannis and Durant show
NBA fans enjoyed epic duel between two of the greats in the league right now as reigning MVP Giannis faced off former MVP Kevin Durant to put on an amazing night.
Both had an amazing night with Giannis finishing the night with season-high 49 points along with eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal.
Meanwhile Kevin Durant finished the night scoring 42 points and 10 rebounds double-double along with 2 assists.
Kevin Durant (42 points in each of his last 2 games) is the first Nets player to score 40+ points in back-to-back games since Vince Carter (Feb. 5-7, 2005). pic.twitter.com/SNSRosXuWP
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) May 2, 2021
He also became the first player to score 40 plus points since Vince Carter in 2005 game back-to-back after scoring 42 points against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.
“I was not going back and forth with KD,” Antetokounmpo said. “There’s nobody in this world who can go back and forth with him. He’s one of the greatest players to ever play this game.
“You’ve got to be able to do it as a unit, to guard him and make it tough on him. I was just trying to do my job, get to my spot and execute and help my team win.”
What was amazing about the two was both were not just shooting but also making those shot in efficient manner.
The Bucks Giannis and the Nets Kevin efficient shooting
Giannis Antetokounmpo made 21 of 36 from the floor, while Durant made 16 of his 33 shots.
“I’ve been working on a jump shot my whole life,” Antetokounmpo said. “I know eventually one day it’s all going to click.
“Tonight that picture I created, that’s who I want to be moving forward. It doesn’t matter if I score 49 points. I don’t care about that. What I care about is how I slowed down, how I was able to find my teammates. How if I missed one, missed a second one, missed a third one and still be able to come down and shoot another one. This is what I believe I can be.”
What a battle.
Giannis: 49 PTS (W)
Durant: 42 PTS pic.twitter.com/vWcNNECxK9— NBA (@NBA) May 2, 2021
Both the players were at least 50 percent from the long range with Giannis making 4 of his 8 attempts from long range and Durant hitting 7 of his 13 attempts.
“Every day you wake up is about your craft,” Durant said. “We’ve just got to stay locked in mentally to what we’re trying to do as a group.”
“You’ve got a guy who is pretty much the same size as Giannis, with unlimited range,” Middleton said. “KD is a guy who will just pull up in your face like you’re not there.”
Even though it was mostly Giannis and Durant show but other players from both the teams also shined and assisted Giannis and Durant in every way possible.
Other Bucks player shined in the win.
Khris Middleton shined for his efforts specifically to assists Giannis along with his amazing shooting both from the field and behind the arc.
He also did amazing work to get the rebounds. Ultimately finishing with 26 points and 11 rebounds double-double along with six assists for the Bucks win.
Similarly Jrue Holiday also showed great performance to hold the Nets and added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Another player of the Bucks shined as well. Brynn Forbes dropped three-pointers so efficiently that helped the Bucks in holding off the Nets.
He scored 12 points coming off the bench and playing only nine points.
In fact everyone in the Bucks did their job well to make comeback after going 9 points down in the 1st quarter.
Kyrie Irving and Shamet shined for the Nets
On the other hand, Kyrie Irving was Brooklyn’s second leading scorer. He finished the night with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Landry Shamet also did amazing job in keeping the Bucks on their toes. He finished scoring 17 points coming off the bench along with 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Blake Grffin shined in the fourth quarter scoring three-pointers to cut the lead and ultimately finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, and a assists.
DeAndre Jordan finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds double-double playing 24 points and guarding Giannis.
He alone was not enough in defending Giannis as Giannis was unstoppable through out the game.
As out of the 49 points that Giannis scored, 35 of them came with Jordan guarding Giannis primarly.
And when he was defended well other Bucks players stepped in to score.
The Nets enter the court without all-star James harden who missed his 14th straight games with a hamstring injury.
While guard Bruce Brown returned the game after missing three games with a sore right knee.
Despite the loss the Nets Coach said the two games series against serve as a rehearsal for playoffs.
“We’re still growing,” Nash said. “We’re still learning.
He also added,” We’re trying to get there, let alone start hiding things.”
The race for the top seed gets more interesting.
As we are nearing the start of the playoffs, the fight to be in the top seed to enter the playoffs is becoming tighter.
With the win, Bucks improved to 40-24 winning for the third time in four games to pull within two and half games of the Nets who dropped 43-22.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia 76ers are on the tops with 43-21, who will face Chicago Bulls tomorrow after defeating San Antonio Spurs 113-111.
While, the Nets face off Milwaukee Bucks again on Wednesday on May 5th.
