The Milwaukee Bucks are still breathing in the playoffs -- barely.
Already trailing 2-0 in an Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Brooklyn Nets, and Kevin Durant found himself 3 with 83 seconds to go into Game 3 on Thursday night at the Fisher Forum after a 3-pointer. Finding the back, the Bucks scored the final six points to work their way into this best-of-seven round to emerge with an 86–83 victory in the game.
And later, Bucks guard Jew Holiday — who hit the go-forward layup with 11.3 seconds to go — said that if Milwaukee is to continue to make it ugly to grind victory on the defensive end as they advance this series, So Bucks will be more than happy to do so.
"Defense first," said Holiday. "Defense wins games, and it wins championships. I think it means a lot to be able to get a stop even with two seconds left. He scored 83 points, I think for us that's it." is the defense we want to play.
"If we have to finish the game, we have to finish it. But when it comes down to it, we want to be aggressive on everyone."
The Nets overtook the Bucks in each of the first two games of this series in Brooklyn, as the series moved back to Milwaukee, as was evident from the time the game began, the home team desperate to ensure Was that the tone was different in this. The Bucks, led by P.J. Tucker, who spent most of the night defending Durant, turned out to be more aggressive at either end - heading out for a 30-11 lead, only to score 56 points in the final 36 minutes as Brooklyn slowly-did. Slowly pulled himself back into the game.
The result was a game that looked more like the 2020s than the 1990s, with lots of tough defense and long stretches, with no baskets on either side.
All that mattered to Milwaukee, however, was that Durant, who finished with 30 points but shot only 11-for-28 from the field, rimmed his final shot of the game as soon as the buzzer sounded. He was hit from behind, so that when these teams meet again in Game 4 on Sunday, they will have a chance to give themselves a chance in a two-match series as well.
"Shoot, man, they did what they should have done: come out on the offensive, back against the wall, and we had that storm," said Kyrie Irving, who had 22 points in 45 minutes. "So, of course we got to be on our heels for the rest of the game just playing catch-up, playing his style of basketball, and then he made some big time shots that took him forward.
"But we had our chances down the stretch. It was a capture-by-possession game. Both teams were battling. So it's a good ol' fashionable playoff game."
Style points don't matter for anything in playoff games—which is a good thing, because the game wasn't exactly overflowing with them. Only five players finished in double digits – Durant, Irving and Bruce Brown (16 points) for the Nets, and Khris Middleton (35) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (33) for Milwaukee. For most of the first half, the rest of Milwaukee's roster scored a field goal. Things weren't much better for Brooklyn, who trailed 30-11 after the first quarter, only to return to the game with their second major quarter.
Brown, who has been the unsung hero for Brooklyn in this series after replacing injured star James Harden in the starting lineup, repeatedly found success in the lane for floaters throughout the game.
But in the final seconds, Brown missed a pull-up jumper that could have given the Nets a 3-point lead with 20.8 seconds, was beaten by Holiday with 11.3 seconds to go and then, after The inbound pass was nearly overturned by Brooklyn, with Brown wounding the ball into the basket and missing a lay-up with 6.4 seconds to go.
"It was a tough, tough playoff game where neither team was really shooting the ball well enough, which created good opportunities," Nets coach Steve Nash said.
"Someone ugly was going to win and that was tonight."
The only thing the Bucks focused on was victory, period, after two tough games in Brooklyn—especially the 39-point shellack Milwaukee absorbed in Game 2. And while the Bucks managed to do so, it didn't come without a few tense moments.
Part of this was due to the Bucks' lack of production from the rest of the offense, as the team outside Middleton and Antetokounmpo scored 18 points on an 8-for-34 shooting overall, including a 3-for-17. Point boundary, and took (and missed) just one free throw.
"Try to get in the paint and do something," Holiday said of his aggressive mindset, after he went 4-for-14 and scored 9 points in 46 minutes. "But I think at some point today I got a little frustrated because I'm going to go out there and put it in there and my shots aren't falling."
And part of that was due to Antetokounmpo's ongoing struggles, shooting from both the perimeter and the free throw line. Antetokounmpo took a playoff-career-high 8 3-pointers on Thursday - making only one, which came early in the fourth quarter. He also went 4-for-9 from the foul line, and was called up for the second time in the playoffs for a 10-second violation, which removed another possible attempt from his laser.
But Antetokounmpo said that as long as teams are going to play him, they have to keep playing right - which, he said, will sometimes involve taking 3s.
"It's all about instinct," said Antekoumpo, who had 14 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 turnovers in 43 minutes. "Basketball is all about instinct. At the end of the day, my instinct is telling me if it's the right decision to take, I'll stick with it.
"It's the same... like, everyone, if you wake up in the morning and think you have to have a cup of coffee, and that's what you want to do, that's what your instinct is telling you, that's what your spirit is telling you. Whatever the case may be, that's what you do. You know, it doesn't matter what happens next, because you live with your decision.
"And at the end of the day, I was trying to make the right decisions at the right time and today it was shooting 8 3s, and in the next game it was shooting zero 3s. Who knows? I just try I'm going to keep making the right decisions."
After the Bucks managed to get themselves back in this series with a win, Antetokounmpo was happy to be able to go home and celebrate a victory that kept Milwaukee's chances of a second round exit alive. No team has returned from a 3–0 loss in a playoff series in NBA history.
"A victory is a victory," he said. "Today we didn't score very high, but at the end of the day, we got a win and that's all we came for tonight. We knew it was a very tough game, and we needed this game as much as possible . , and hopefully we get the next one.
"But at the end of the day, a win is a win. When you can go back home and celebrate w... it feels good."