Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Nets Beat Giannis, Bucks in Game 1 Despite Harden Injury
In the most-anticipated playoff series of the season, the Brooklyn Nets topped the Milwaukee Bucks 115-107 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Saturday.
After disposing of the Boston Celtics in five games in the first round, the Nets looked ready for a much more difficult opponent in Round 2.
Milwaukee looked to have a lot of momentum coming off a four-game sweep of the Miami Heat in which it had a plus-20 scoring average in the series.
Things didn't start well for the Nets when James Harden left in the first minute of the game. He didn't return with a hamstring injury.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving picked up the slack without the third member of their main trio available. They combined for 54 points on 23-of-51 shooting. Durant and Blake Griffin both had double-doubles.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had his best game of the playoffs with 34 points and 11 rebounds, but the rest of the Bucks struggled to find a rhythm on offense. Khris Middleton really disappointed with 13 points on 6-of-23 shooting.
Notable Game Stats
- Kyrie Irving (BKN): 25 points (11-of-26 FG), 8 assists, 5 rebounds
- Kevin Durant (BKN): 29 points (12-of-25 FG), 10 rebounds, 3 assists
- Blake Griffin (BKN): 18 points (7-of-13 FG), 14 rebounds
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL): 34 points (16-of-24 FG), 11 rebounds, 4 assists
- Jrue Holiday (MIL): 17 points (7-of-19 FG), 9 rebounds, 6 assists
Harden's Injury Doesn't Slow Down Nets' Potent Offense
One of the major talking points for the Nets coming into the playoffs was how little time their big three had been able to play together.
Harden, Irving and Durant shared the court only eight times during the regular season. They looked fantastic during the opening round against the Celtics, averaging 85.2 points per game in the five-game series.
A hamstring injury for Harden is going to be particularly concerning because he dealt with the same issue during the regular season. The nine-time All-Star missed 20 of 21 games from April 1-May 11 with a strained right hamstring.
Despite not having Harden available for essentially the entire game, Brooklyn's offense didn't seem to slow down. It scored at least 30 points in each of the first two quarters.
One reason the Nets remained so successful without Harden was the effort of their role players.
Griffin, in particular, continues to look like one of the best in-season signings for any team. He had his highest-scoring game of the playoffs thanks to three three-pointers and had a season-high 14 rebounds.
Durant was held in check in the first half matched up with P.J. Tucker. He had 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting and missed both of his three-point attempts.
The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor highlighted one defensive sequence in the first quarter where Durant was disrupting Milwaukee's attempts at driving to the basket.
Irving was the engine of Brooklyn's success in the first two quarters. The 29-year-old had 20 points and was 9-of-16 from the floor to give the Nets a 63-61 lead at the intermission.
The third quarter turned out to be the difference in the game. The Nets outscored the Bucks 35-23 to open up a 14 point lead.
Durant scored 13 points and made five of his eight attempts from the field.
This was reminiscent of what the Warriors teams that had Durant were capable of doing at their peak.
Opponents could keep the game close for a short period of time, but eventually the offensive firepower would become too great for them to overcome.
The Nets are the most dangerous team in the NBA because they don't have to play at their best to win games. If Durant and Irving are playing well, this series could be over sooner than expected, regardless of when Harden might return.
Sloppy Shooting Leaves Bucks Searching for Answers
All of the understandable hype around Brooklyn's offense seemed to ignore the fact that it was the Bucks who led the NBA in scoring during the regular season (120.1 points per game).
Milwaukee also ranked third in field-goal percentage and fifth in three-point percentage.
If the Bucks are going to get past the Nets, it would stand to reason their offense would rise to the occasion against a defense that can be prone to lackluster efforts.
Unfortunately, three-point shooting was missing for Milwaukee. It finished 6-of-30 from behind the arc. This has been an ongoing problem in the playoffs. It only made 32.7 percent of its attempts from three against Miami.
It wasn't totally clear how the Nets would handle the size that Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer could put on the floor against them.
It turns out, the response by Brooklyn was essentially to disrupt Milwaukee's guards. Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez were getting buckets by attacking the rim.
Milwaukee's outside shooting was a problem on Saturday. Holiday and Middleton combined to go 2-of-12 from three.
Middleton's performance was particularly disappointing coming off an excellent series against Miami. He averaged 21.5 points per game and shot 40.7 percent from three in the first round.
Scoring trends didn't favor the Bucks in this game. They stormed out of the gate with a 32-point first quarter, but saw their scoring decrease in each of the next two quarters (29 in the second, 23 in the third).
On the other hand, the Nets scoring increased from 30 in the first to 33 in the second and 35 in the third. Joe Harris almost made as many threes on his own (five) as the entire Bucks team (six).
This is just one loss and it's widely expected that this will be a long series, but Milwaukee has a lot of things to fix from Game 1 if it wants to pose a real threat to the Nets.
What's Next?
The Bucks and Nets will play Game 2 at Barclays Center on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
