Live coverage: Bucks vs. Nets in Game 5 of the NBA playoffs at the Barclays Center
Nets #Nets
NEW YORK – The updates, though separated by hours, felt breathless. James Harden’s hamstring was improving as Tuesday progressed and after working around the court with three-pointers and floaters, the former league Most Valuable Player was cleared to return to play for the Brooklyn Nets in Game 5 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Surprising as it was for most, and inspiring as it could have been to the hosts, it was on the tail of Kevin Durant’s comet that the Brooklyn Nets rallied from a 17-point third quarter deficit to beat the Bucks, 114-108, at the Barclays Center.
The Bucks now head back to Fiserv Forum on Thursday facing elimination in Game 6.
Get daily updates on the Packers during the season.
Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the Game 5 winner claims the series 82% of the time (73–16) after the home team had won each of the first four games. If that Game 5 winner was also the home team, they win 91% of the time (60–6).
Durant played every minute of the game and was transcendent, even by his standards.
He made 16 of his 23 shots, including 4 for 9 from behind the three-point line and scored 49 points. He pulled down 17 rebounds, handed out 10 assists, had three steals and two blocks. He became the first player in NBA playoff history to record 45 or more points, 15 or more rebounds and 10 or more assists. Per Stat Muse, he scored or assisted on 43 of the Nets’ final 52 points.
BOX SCORE: Nets 114, Bucks 108
RELATED: Bucks-Nets Game 6 tickets: Plenty of seats available at Fiserv Forum
Milwaukee, on the other hand, lost its feel for team offense and drifted back into the same isolation-type situations leading to turnovers and one shot, helping Durant not just score on his own but finally lift the supporting Nets players. When Jrue Holiday assisted on a Brook Lopez three-pointer to make it 74-57 Bucks at the 7:09 mark of the third quarter, it was the team’s 12th assist on 28 baskets.
By the time the Nets held a 99-98 lead with 5:10 to go, the Bucks had only three more assists.
Though Durant played the rule of Thanos in those final minutes, the Bucks had plenty of chances to reclaim the lead game as the Nets never led by more than four points. Instead, Jrue Holiday stepped back from 17 feet on Harden and airballed it down, 97-96. The Nets responded with a three-pointer.
Holiday took it to Harden later to tie the game 104-104, but then Giannis Antetokounmpo settled for a 12-footer over Harden. He missed, and Harden hit two free throws on the other end to put the Nets up, 106-104.
Durant hit a leaning, shot-clock beating three around Khris Middleton to make it 109-105 with 50 seconds left, but a quick dunk by Lopez made it 109-107.
Then, after P.J. Tucker put on the iron glove and held Durant to a contested missed three with 27 seconds left, Middleton’s tight dish to Antetokounmpo fell out of his hands with 13 seconds left – and it was Durant who scooped up the loose ball. And it was Durant who secured the rebound on an Antetokounmpo missed free throw with 12.5 seconds left.
And it was Durant who iced it with three free throws.
Jeff Green helped his Brooklyn teammate with 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting (7-for-8 from behind the three-point line) off the bench, and Blake Griffin scored 17. Harden finished with five points on 1-of-10 shooting (0-for-8 from distance).
Antetokounmpo fouled out with seconds left with 34 points and 12 rebounds. He made 14 of his 22 shots, including two, three-pointers on four attempts. He made 4 of 7 free throws, and 2 of 4 in the final 74 seconds when fouled intentionally.
Holiday (19 points, 8 assists), Middleton (25 points), Lopez (10 points, six rebounds) also reached double figures for the starters. Tucker was scoreless on three shots in 33 minutes, and he sat a chunk of the fourth quarter late with five fouls.
The Bucks opened the second half with a 16-point lead, which the Nets shaved down to six by the end of it as Durant scored 11 points and handed out five assists, forcing the Bucks to nurse an 87-81 lead into the fourth quarter.
But the comeback didn’t begin in earnest until five minutes had gone in the quarter, as the Bucks led 74-57 after a Lopez three-pointer at the 7:09 mark. Brooklyn took a 21-13 advantage over the final six minutes.
It was a completely different story in the first half, even though Harden’s introduction got the Nets faithful fired up. Because at the outset, Holiday smothered it.
Clearly limited, Harden managed two shots in the first quarter and went 0 for 6 in the first half, including 0 for 5 from beyond the three-point line with Holiday defending him. The Bucks shot out to a 12-2 lead and took a 59-43 lead into the break.
Even though Holiday (three), Antetokounmpo (two), Lopez (two) and Tucker (two) were beset by foul trouble and forced head coach Mike Budenholzer to play matchups with his bench, the Bucks’ defense never cracked in holding the Nets to 35% shooting (14 for 40) overall and 27.3% from behind the three-point line.
Pat Connaughton played 17 of 32 minutes in the first half, scoring eight points and pulling down four rebounds while Forbes played 10 minutes and scored five points. Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Eli Bryant also saw time.
Despite the stops and starts due to fouls, Holiday score 10 points and handed out three assists in the first half, including eight points and an assist in the opening 7:30 that saw the Bucks take a 19-9 lead. Antetokounmpo was dominant in the half, making eight of his 11 shots for 17 points. He pulled down seven rebounds and blocked two shots. Middleton scored 14 timely points, despite shooting 4-for-12.
Durant scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, pulled down nine rebounds, had three assists, two steals and two blocks but only Green (15 points) seemed up for the task of running with the star. The other seven Nets who played in the first half scored a combined 10 points, with Harden, Bruce Brown, Landry Shamet, Nic Claxton and Mike James going scoreless.
After falling behind by double-digits early the Nets cut it to 24-15 with just over a minute left in the first quarter, but Lopez and Middleton scored five straight points to give the Bucks a 29-15 lead going into the second quarter. Middleton opened the second quarter with a three to make it 32-15 and it took the Nets nearly five minutes to get it 42-33. But Antetokounmpo shouldered the burden then, hitting an open three-pointer to start a run of seven straight points that made it 49-33. The Nets couldn’t get closer than 12 before the half.
More: Brooklyn’s James Harden will try to play Tuesday night’s Game 5 vs. Milwaukee Bucks
More: ‘I got to be physical’: P.J. Tucker’s defensive intensity has helped get Milwaukee Bucks out of two-game deficit in NBA playoffs
More: Commitment to details on defense have helped Bucks lock down the Nets the last two games
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: Nets 114, Bucks 108: Kevin Durant’s 49 points put Brooklyn back in charge of playoff series, 3-2