Bucks 86, Nets 83: Milwaukee cuts series deficit to 2-1 in front of capacity crowd
Bucks #Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks sure knew how to play with the emotions of their first capacity crowd at Fiserv Forum this season.
Facing a must-win game against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, the Bucks bolted to a 21-point lead in the first quarter but then blew most of it with a disastrous second.
Somehow the Bucks were able to grind their way to an 86-83 victory, cutting the Nets’ lead to 2-1 in the second-round series.
Get daily updates on the Packers during the season.
It was the lowest point total of the season for the high-octane Nets.
Milwaukee was carried by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, who combined for 68 points. Jrue Holiday overcame a rough performance to score the go-ahead basket in the final minute.
“For us to have the big first quarter and then things change, ” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “And for us to find a way to win a game, your character is tested in the playoffs.
“(Our) character is tested coming into the game and this group has high character and they responded. Now we just got to fill our cup and do it again on Sunday.”
Milwaukee came out much more aggressive, especially Antetokounmpo. After settling mostly for jump shots in Game 2, Antetokounmpo hunted shots in the paint early. He had seven points, including two massive dunks that fired up the crowd, as the Bucks raced to a 9-0 lead.
Brooklyn missed its first seven shots before head coach Steve Nash called a timeout at the 8:25 mark.
BOX SCORE: Bucks 86, Nets 83
RELATED: Packers Za’Darius Smith, Aaron Jones the stars of Bucks Game 3 crowd
The lead reached 21 points and was at 30-11 at the end of the first quarter with Antetokounmpo and Middleton combining for all the Bucks’ points in that stretch on 12-for-17 shooting.
Antetokounmpo ended up taking 31 shots, 16 more than he took in Game 2. He finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds.
“I wasn’t thinking about being aggressive, I was just thinking about being in the moment,” Antetokounmpo said. “I knew that my instincts were going to take over. I’m going to make the right play.”
It was a welcome sight for the Bucks that Middleton was knocking down shots after missing his first eight shots in Game 2. He finished Game 3 with 35 points on 12-for-25 shooting and also pulled down 15 rebounds.
“It’s just a matter of staying with it,” Middleton said. “Taking some of the same shots. Just having the confidence to knock it in.”
The Nets were ice cold, shooting 5 for 25 (20%) in the first quarter, including 1 for 9 on three-pointers. Brooklyn stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving combined to shoot 3 for 12.
Irving hit his first two attempts in the second quarter and Landry Shamet added a three-pointer from the top of the key, leading to a timeout by Budenholzer at the 10:47 mark.
That jump-started Brooklyn’s offense while Milwaukee reverted back to their issues in the first two games of the season with too much one-on-one play on offense.
Holiday scored the first points from a Bucks player other than Middleton or Antetokounmpo when he knocked down a baseline jumper at the 9:31 mark of the second quarter.
Four straight baskets in the paint by the Nets’ Bruce Brown cut the Bucks’ lead to 32-26, prompting another timeout by Budenholzer with 7:43 remaining in the first half.
The Nets got within two points, but couldn’t completely erase the deficit. Milwaukee headed into the locker room with a 45-42 lead after Middleton’s wide-open three-pointer rimmed out in the waning seconds.
Middleton and Antetokounmpo had 36 of the Bucks’ points. The Nets shot 3 for 15 (20%) on three-pointers in the first half.
The teams battled back and forth throughout the early portion of the third quarter with the Bucks never pushing the lead past five points. The Nets closed the gap to 55-54 when Durant hit a tough three-pointer.
Another three by Durant tied the game at 57-57 a few minutes later, but the Bucks’ Brook Lopez answered with a triple of his own. It was Lopez’s first points of the game.
Brooklyn took its first lead at 65-64 with just over a minute left in third when Durant drove and found Brown for another basket in the paint. Middleton was fouled on a three-pointer on the Bucks’ next possession and he made all three free throws, sending Milwaukee into the fourth quarter with a 67-65 lead.
After Irving gave the Nets a 70-69 lead early in the fourth, Antetokounmpo knocked down two free throws and a three-pointer. Before that flurry he was 0 for 6 on threes and 2 of 7 from the line.
The teams fell into a cold funk for over three minutes and entered the final 3:10 tied at 76-76.
Middleton and Durant traded baskets on four straight possessions. But, after a Middleton miss, Durant gave the Nets an 83-80 lead on a three with 1:23 left.
The Bucks grabbed back the lead when Middleton had a shot goal-tended and Holiday drove for a left-handed layup with 11.4 seconds left when the Nets’ defense wasn’t set after a miss from Brown.
“I felt like they thought I was going to call a timeout,” Holiday said. “In my head I was thinking maybe I should run some clock. But I saw me and Bruce Brown one-on-one, so I made a move and it was a good one.”
The Nets’ play after a timeout went nowhere and Brown missed a shot in the paint after a scramble. Brooklyn fouled Middleton, who sank two free throws.
Milwaukee’s defense had to withstand one more test on an out-of-bounds play with 2.1 seconds remaining. Durant missed a long three-pointer at the buzzer.
“Attention to detail,” Holiday said of the late-game stops. “Being able to kind of determine where guys were going. Make it difficult for them. And then, really, just locking in and being competitive.
“Really, when it comes down to it, we wanted it more than they did.”
Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks 86, Nets 83: Milwaukee cuts series deficit to 2-1 in front of capacity crowd