Dairyland Express
Fansided

Milwaukee Bucks let golden opportunity slip away

By Steven Schauer

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 15: Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks celebrates his dunk in the second quarter against the Brooklyn Nets during game 5 of the Eastern Conference second round at Barclays Center on June 15, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 15: Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks celebrates his dunk in the second quarter against the Brooklyn Nets during game 5 of the Eastern Conference second round at Barclays Center on June 15, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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The Milwaukee Bucks blew a prime opportunity to take control of the Eastern semifinal series over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. They held a two-point lead with eight minutes to play and just couldn’t muster the big-time, highlight plays they had in game 4.

Brooklyn, meanwhile, received one of the great playoff performances of all time when Kevin Durant posted a triple-double to lead the Nets to a 114-108 victory and a 3-2 lead in the series.

Game 6 is Thursday night at 7:30 pm CT at Fiserv. The Milwaukee Bucks are 4-0 this season against the Nets at home.

Milwaukee was in the best position possible to take control and return to the Fiserv Forum to close out the series. Brooklyn was without Kyrie Irving who had sprained his ankle in game 4 and James Harden returned at clearly less than 100 percent from a hamstring injury.

In this series, the Bucks haven’t been able to stop Durant, who has averaged 33.6 points and finished 49 points on 16-of-23 shooting, to go along with 17 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and two blocks in game 5. He scored 31 of his 49 points in the second half, including 20 in the fourth quarter.

"”He’s [Kevin Durant] the best player in the world right now and we’ve got to beat him as a team,” Antetokounmpo said. ”We’ve got to guard him as a team. We’ve got to make him make tough shots like tonight. We’ve just got to keep doing our job and hopefully he’s going to miss.”“He is the best player in the world. The best scorer in the world. We are doing our job and there are going to be nights when he has 50, and there are going to be nights when we try to contain him as much as possible and give ourselves a chance to be in the game.”"

To add salt to the wound, Milwaukee held a 16-point halftime lead and looked to have carried over the momentum from game 4 with a 29-15 first-quarter lead.

It’s not like the Milwaukee Bucks played terribly. They shot 49.4 percent from the floor, 40.6 percent (13-of-32) from 3-point range and scored 52 points in the paint.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. He shot 14-of-22 from the floor. Khris Middleton tallied 25 points, Jrue Holiday posted 19 points and eight assists, and Brook Lopez chipped in 15 points.

Milwaukee led 96-94 with 8:13 to play in the game before Brooklyn went on a 20-12 scoring run to finish the game.

The Nets also received a noteworthy performance from Jeff Green, who has also been injured much of the series, and had 27 points with seven 3-pointers. Blake Griffin added 17 points.

Durant became the first player in NBA history to have at least 45 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a playoff game.

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