Milwaukee Bucks vs Nets: Bucks Reach Eastern Conference Finals

The Bucks won the game 115-111 and now have a chance to make up for their past playoff failures. Last season, they lost to the Miami Heat 4-1 in the semi-finals.

The year before that, they lost to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference finals after being 2-0 up. This series happened whilst Giannis Antetokounmpo was winning regular-season MVPs.

So it’s no surprise that he earned criticism for underperforming in the playoffs. Did he finally prove that he can play great in the playoffs as well as a regular season?

Yes, he did. The two-time MVP had a great series against the Nets. Throughout the series, Antetokounmpo averaged 31.9 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. He did this while shooting 57.4% from the field.

Whether or not he can keep this up against the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference final remains to be seen.

Milwaukee Bucks vs Nets: Game 7

Milwaukee Bucks vs Nets gave us a great Game Seven match. One that saw a historically great playoff performance from Kevin Durant.

We all knew Durant would have to have an amazing game for the Nets to have a chance at going to the Eastern Conference Final. With James Harden not playing at 100% due to his injury and Kyrie Irving not available the pressure fell to Durant.

Despite the loss, he delivered. Durant had 48 points, 6 assists and 9 rebounds.

He made history, scoring the most points ever in a Game 7 and he did so whilst playing all 53 minutes of the game. The Milwaukee Bucks vs Nets reminded us of Durant’s all-time greatness.

He hit a clutch three to send the game to overtime. Most people watching at the time would have thought he hit the game-winner, however, his feet were on the line slightly.

The Milwaukee Bucks vs Nets was a historic Game 7. Durant and Antetokounmpo became the third pair in history to score 40+ points in a Game 7 and on opposing teams. The other pairs include LeBron James, and Sam Jones, and Oscar Robertson.

He also made history by becoming the fifth player in NBA history to record 40+ points and 10+ rebounds in a Game 7, joining Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Charles Barkley, and Tim Duncan.

A very elite group of players, and to have your name amongst them shows greatness. He finished with 40 points, 5 assists, and 13 rebounds.

Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday also stepped up in the clutch, after having a disappointing start to the game. Middleton had 11 points, two assists, and three steals in the fourth while Holiday had nine points and went two out of three from beyond the arc.

If the Bucks are going to beat the Hawks, which they are expected to do so, Middleton and Holiday are going to have to perform on offense consistently.

Brook Lopez also had a big game scoring 19 points whilst going 7-11 from the field. He also went 3-4 from three and had a massive block on Kevin Durant during overtime.

After the Milwaukee Bucks vs Nets Game 7, Antetokounmpo said: “We’ve all worked extremely hard to be in this moment, and I’m not talking about basketball, I’m talking about life you know.

“Just being able to be in a position, on the road, Game 7, like you watch this growing up on tv and see like the all-time greats going head to head in Game 7, and getting big wins.

“At the end of the day, we work extremely hard our whole life for this moment so I wanted everybody to live up this moment, to feel this moment, to cherish this moment because we are built for this that’s why we are here.”

The Bucks are going to need everyone to step up as they face a completely different threat with the Atalanta Hawks. Most teams are dealing with injury issues, the Bucks are now the favorites.

Whether or not they can finally live up to expectations this year, we will have to wait and see. As Trae Young and the Hawks have shown this year, you can’t underestimate that team.

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