The Brooklyn Nets lost 47 seconds to James Harden earlier in their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, with the Bucks leveling the series in two games with a 107-96 win at Milwaukee's Fischer Forum on Sunday afternoon, the Nets return to New York for Game 5 on Tuesday, without which they will be expected to play their biggest game of the season. Likely two of their three superstars.
Kyrie Irving was unable to return for Sunday's match due to a sprained right ankle. After Irving did a lay-up in the middle of the second quarter, he landed at the foot of Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Irving's right leg was greatly bent and he was in severe pain right away. He remained on the court for several minutes before finally getting back on his feet and driving back to the locker room without assistance but with an apparent limp.
Brooklyn took Irving out for the rest of the game just before the start of the second half. Nets coach Steve Nash said after the game that X-rays on Irving's ankle were negative. Sources told ESPN's Rachel Nichols that Irving left the building using crutches and in a walking boot with his ankle bent.
"I don't know what's going to happen to [Irving] in the coming days," Nash said. "We'll cross our fingers and hope it's better than what I don't know - better than what - better than missing the next game?
"We all have to pitch. We all have to play together."
When interviewed on the court by Nichols after the game, Antetokounmpo said he was not even aware of what Irving had initially hurt when he hit the floor.
"I really don't know," Antetokounmpo said, when asked what happened from his perspective on the play. "I thought he was hit in the groin first. When I went back to the locker room, they said he sprained an ankle. I wish him a speedy recovery, and hope he can play Game 5." Wants nothing but the best, but we have to focus on ourselves, focus on the work, have fun and try to win the game."
Over the next two days, Brooklyn's already intense focus on the injury situation, with Harden recovering from a right hamstring tightness — the same hamstring injury that kept him out for several weeks late in the regular season — in the opening moments of Game 1. If Irving is on the shelf, Brooklyn will be fast.
Ahead of Sunday's game, Nash—who has said several times in recent days that Harden is "progressing," offered more specifics, saying he's doing on-court work, including shooting, and Still working through his rehabilitation. Nash said that while Harden was on his way back, he didn't have full details of the exact work Harden is capable of.
When asked on Sunday about the possibility of Harden returning in Game 5 with Irving out of the competition, Nash said any decision about Harden's availability would be made independently of Irving.
"I don't want James to come back in a hurry," Nash said. "If he's able to play the next game or so, that's great. If he's not, we don't want to rush him back and risk doing something bad or making it a long-term injury. "
After the Nets settled the first two games in Brooklyn—even as Harden was sidelined for both of them—the series is in a completely different place after the Bucks served and won both games in Milwaukee, The Bucks finally saw their offense alive in Game 4 before Thursday night's slugfest took off in Game 3 in a defensive win.
Milwaukee began to see its perimeter shots fall in Game 4, converting 16-for-47 from 3-point range in the win. And while the 34% conversion rate from Deep was nothing special, it was a huge improvement from the 24.7% clip (22-for-89) that the Bucks shot in the first three games of the series.
And with both Harden and Irving likely to be sidelined, Milwaukee will be able to draw even more attention to Brooklyn's remaining superstar, Kevin Durant, who had 28 points in Sunday's loss but was 9-out from the field. K-25 went in and fired a combined shot. 20-for-53 in the series leading up to the Nets' two losses at Milwaukee.
Nash took exception with some of the defenses Brooklyn played against Durant—notably Durant's longtime friend and fellow Texas Longhorns , P.J. Efforts demonstrated by Tucker. Nash said it drew on his "non-basketball" physicality with his offensive defense in the last two games.
"He's been playing extremely physical and has made it difficult," Nash said. "It's his role on his team and I thought it was non-basketball physical borderline at times, but it's the playoffs. You have to adapt and adjust. Something has definitely changed with the way we play in Brooklyn and here Milwaukee."
For his part, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer scoffed at the idea that Tucker was doing whatever suits his game.
"He's just guarding her," said Budenholzer. "If that's not basketball, I don't know what is. So, I think we just have to have the same mindset, protect him, make everything tough, so nothing changes."
While nothing may change from the point of view of Durant's defense, obviously everything changes for the Nets as they wait to see what the forecast is on both of their injured stars. Bucks guard Pat Connaughton, however, said that Milwaukee could afford to overlook the rest of Brooklyn's roster—most of whom played a part in eliminating the Bucks in the first two games of the series.
"We really said it doesn't matter who's out," Connaughton said. “We want to make sure we continue to play our kind of game. Obviously James went down in Game 1, Kyrie went down at one point today, but they have a lot of talented individuals and a collective unit at that. There is a lot of talent as the team.
"For us, it's about focusing on our brand of basketball. The stiffness on the defensive end, the things we instill in ourselves and each other, and the speed of the ball, the speed of the player that we have on the offensive." It's on the edge. I think that's the most important thing as we continue to move forward."
Still, it was clear that the Nets were - understandably - affected by Irving's departure from the game. While Brooklyn opened the game 6-for-14 from 3-point range, the Nets were just 4-for-19 after Irving's injury and made 10 turnovers in the final 30 minutes of action.
"We missed him, obviously," Nash said. "It was a big adjustment to play without him and James tonight, but we had that type of year. So, we have to figure it out, watch the tapes, and find a way to get better."