Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo drives around Brooklyn Nets forward Nicolas Claxton as Nets guard Mike James defends during the third quarter of Game 2 on June 7, 2021, in New York. The Nets beat the Bucks 125-86.Kathy Willens/The Associated Press
Kevin Durant left Giannis Antetokounmpo in his tracks and got to the rim for a reverse layup, with James Harden coming way off his baseline spot to cheer.
Harden may be hurt, but the Brooklyn Nets are showing no hint that they miss him.
“I think we’re capable of greatness every single night,” Kyrie Irving said.
And the Milwaukee Bucks don’t seem capable of stopping it.
Durant scored 32 points in three quarters of a top-to-bottom blowout that sent the Nets halfway to the Eastern Conference finals with a 125-86 rout on Monday night. It was the most lopsided playoff win in franchise history for the Nets.
The Nets led by as much as 49 in their most lopsided playoff win ever and held the NBA’s highest-scoring team 34 points below its season average.
“For the most part we just did what we were supposed to do, win two at home and we’ve got to see if this game is going to travel on the road for us and we’ve got to stay locked in,” Durant said.
Irving added 22 points and Bruce Brown filled in nicely for Harden with 13 points and six rebounds.
The Nets broke down the Bucks’ defence off the dribble all night, setting up uncontested shots that they mostly made. Brooklyn shot 52% from the field and was 21 for 42 from 3-point range.
The Bucks swept their first-round series against Miami but need a big turnaround when they get back home to avoid being swept themselves now.
Antetokounmpo had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, but was thoroughly outplayed by Durant in a matchup of NBA MVP winners and sat dejected on the Bucks’ bench early in the fourth quarter with the game long since hopelessly out of reach.
“We feel like we’re better than the way we’re playing and we know that,” guard Jrue Holiday said. “But at this point, we can’t really be down. We’ve got to stay positive.”
Khris Middleton added 17 points after a slow start to the series and Holiday had 13.
Game 3 is Thursday in Milwaukee, where the Bucks beat the Nets twice in May while Harden was out with a right hamstring injury.
He left Game 1 after 43 seconds with tightness of that hamstring, but the Nets shook that off to win 115-107. The Nets haven’t given a timetable for his return, though he didn’t appear too hurt going out under the backboard to holler toward Durant after his driving layup made it 95-65 after three.
The onslaught came quickly. A three-point game midway through the first quarter became 36-19 by the end of it after the Nets closed with a 23-9 surge. Durant scored 13 points, playing the entire quarter.
He and Irving sat to start the second but the Nets opened with a 7-2 burst to push the lead to 43-21 on Blake Griffin’s 3-pointer.
“We didn’t play very well overall – first quarter, the whole game. I think we’ve got to play better from start to end,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Griffin had the highlight play of the half, cutting along the baseline to take a pass from Brown and swoop in for the slam, with Antetokounmpo turning his head away at the last second so the ball couldn’t crash down on top of him.
Who could blame the Bucks for not wanting to look?
The lead ballooned to 27 late in the half before Brooklyn took a 65-41 cushion to the locker-room.
SUNS 122, NUGGETS 105
Chris Paul scored 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and also contributed 11 assists and six rebounds to help the Phoenix Suns record a 122-105 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night.
Mikal Bridges scored 23 points, Devin Booker notched 21 points and eight assists, and Deandre Ayton contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds for the second-seeded Suns. Phoenix outscored Denver 59-33 over the final 19 minutes, 34 seconds.
Nikola Jokic registered 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for the third-seeded Nuggets.
Aaron Gordon scored 18 points, Michael Porter Jr. added 15 points, Facundo Campazzo tallied 14 points and JaMychal Green had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Denver.
Game 2 will be Wednesday night, also in Phoenix.
Jae Crowder added 14 points for the Suns, who shot 54.1 percent from the field, including 13 of 34 from 3-point range.
The Nuggets connected on 46.7 percent of their shots and were 14 of 40 from behind the arc.