Kevin Durant: Nets 'Just Couldn't Get Over the Hump' in Game 6 Loss to Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks had an answer every time the Brooklyn Nets made a spurt during Thursday's contest, and the result was a 104-89 victory for the home team that forced a Game 7 in the second-round series.

"I felt like we were right there," Kevin Durant told reporters. "We just couldn't get over the hump."

Durant finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds in an impressive performance that wasn't quite the 49-point triple-double he posted during an epic showing in Game 5.

"I'm not trying to be a hero out there," he said. "I know we can't win a basketball game by myself."

It seemed like Brooklyn was going to get over that hump multiple times in the second half. It closed the gap to five late in the third, but Khris Middleton answered with a 6-0 run by himself to end the quarter by pushing the advantage back to double digits.

The Nets then pulled within five again in the fourth quarter with a Joe Harris three-pointer just for the Bucks to respond with a 14-0 run that included Antetokounmpo converting a critical and-one and throwing down a dunk.

It was just the type of spark the Bucks needed after blowing a double-digit lead in Game 5 and should give them confidence for Saturday's decisive Game 7.

"Couple shots, couple questionable calls. It got ugly fast," James Harden told reporters when discussing Milwaukee's 14-0 run in the fourth.

Harden's performance was the one silver lining for the Nets, as he finished with 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals after shooting an ugly 1-of-10 from the field and 0-of-8 from three-point range in Game 5, which was his return from a hamstring injury.

If he resembles the nine-time All-Star version of himself in Game 7 alongside Durant, the Nets will have a much better chance of not only closing this series out with a win, but winning the championship even if Kyrie Irving continues to remain sidelined with an ankle injury.