Bucks hold off Nets to claw back in NBA playoff series

MILWAUKEE, WI – JUNE 10: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks dunks the ball against the Brooklyn Nets during Round 2, Game 3 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs on June 10, 2021 at the Fiserv Forum Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE / Getty Images / Getty Images via AFP)

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The Milwaukee Bucks started strong and clung on late to beat the Brooklyn Nets 86-83 on Thursday and claw their way back into their NBA Eastern Conference second-round playoff series.

Khris Middleton scored 35 points and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 as the Bucks — routed in two games in Brooklyn — trimmed the deficit in the best-of-seven series to 2-1.

Kevin Durant led the Nets with 30 points and 11 rebounds, but his three-point attempt to force overtime bounced off the rim and the Bucks avoided falling into an 0-3 hole.

“It looked good, but thank god it didn’t go in,” Antetokounmpo said of Durant’s final attempt.

The Bucks were coming off a humiliating 39-point loss to the Nets in game two in Brooklyn, and in the first game of the series in Milwaukee they came out playing as if their lives depended on the outcome.

Antetokounmpo and Middleton scored 15 points apiece in the first quarter as the Bucks seized a 30-11 lead.

The Nets turned the tables in the second period, opening the quarter on a 15-2 scoring run.

They out-scored the Bucks 31-15 in the second — but they didn’t get their first lead of the game until the third quarter, when Bruce Brown’s jump shot put them up 65-64 with just over a minute remaining in the period.

It was nip and tuck the rest of the way, the Bucks taking a two-point lead into a fourth quarter that saw four lead changes, with neither team leading by more than four points.

It was tied at 80-80 with 1:30 remaining. Durant drained a three-pointer to put the Nets up with 1:23 left.

Middleton drove for a layup to cut the deficit and Jrue Holiday spun in for a layup to put Milwaukee up by one with 11.4 seconds to play.

Middleton pushed the Bucks’ lead to three with two free throws that capped the scoring.

“At the end of the day we kept our composure,” Antetokounmpo said. “We stayed together … we kept trusting our habits and we were able to stay in the game and get the win.”

The Bucks will try to level the series when they host game four on Sunday.

Kyrie Irving added 22 points for the Nets, who were again without the third piece of their star trio, James Harden, who is nursing a hamstring injury.