Kyrie Irving: Bruce Brown Doesn't Deserve Blame for Nets' Game 3 Loss vs. Bucks

It was certainly surprising to see Bruce Brown and not Kyrie Irving or Kevin Durant driving toward the basket in the final seconds of the Brooklyn Nets' 86-83 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.

Brooklyn had the ball down one with an opportunity to go ahead, but Brown missed his shot in the lane. The Bucks didn't look back from there and now trail just 2-1 in the second-round series.

"Usually, Bruce puts us in a great position to at least have something at the rim that goes in, but tonight it just didn't go for us," Irving told reporters. "It's not on him. It's not on any one person. Just got to execute."

Brown doesn't deserve much blame because he was the only one who kept the Nets within striking distance for extended stretches.

After the visitors fell behind by 21 in the first quarter, he spearheaded the comeback with multiple floaters in the lane over Brook Lopez and impressive rebounds on his way to 16 points and 11 boards.

That effort helped keep it close even though Durant and Irving were a combined 20-of-50 from the field, but it ultimately wasn't enough.

Brooklyn will look to seize a commanding 3-1 lead in Sunday's Game 4.