Advertisement

'This is insane': NBA world explodes over 'ridiculous' Game 7 drama

yahoo sports staff
·4-min read
Kevin Durant, pictured here hitting a game-tying shot against the Bucks.
The Milwaukee Bucks survived against the Brooklyn Nets after Kevin Durant's game-winning shot was only a game-tying shot. Image: Getty/NBA

The Milwaukee Bucks have advanced to NBA's Eastern Conference finals after a wild Game 7 saw them oust the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks survived a thrilling over-time battle with the Nets to prevail 115-111 at the Barclays Centre to reach their second Eastern Conference finals in three years.

'SO AFRAID': Ben Simmons torched after brutal Playoffs loss

'DIDN'T WANNA LISTEN': LeBron James takes savage swipe at NBA

The Nets pulled ahead slightly in the first half thanks to a defensive stand where they held Milwaukee scoreless for nearly four minutes in the second quarter.

But that didn’t last long as Brooklyn took a slender six-point lead into the break.

The Bucks came out hot in the third quarter, and opened up a quick 11-0 run to retake the lead again almost instantly.

Antetokoumpo put up 16 points in the quarter - the most points he’s scored in a single quarter throughout the entire postseason.

Despite his hot hand, though, the Bucks only took a one-point lead into the fourth.

The Bucks had a chance to make it a two possession game with less than 10 seconds left, but the Nets forced a shot clock violation out of an inbounds play to reclaim the ball down two points with just six seconds left.

Kevin Durant, pictured here hitting the game-tying shot to send Game 7 into overtime.
Kevin Durant hit the game-tying shot to send Game 7 into overtime. (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)

Kevin Durant denied game-winning shot by a toenail

That’s when Kevin Durant showed up to temporarily save the Nets’ season.

Durant, after catching a long inbounds pass, drilled what looked like a wild contested 3-pointer with less than two seconds left, seemingly putting them up by a single point.

A review, however, showed that Durant’s toes were barely on the line - which changed the bucket back and ended up sending the game into over-time.

Both teams went cold for several minutes at the start of over-time until Antetokounmpo made a layup to tie things up with just more than a minute left, and then Khris Middleton matched him with a mid-range jumper of his own to give them a two-point lead with just 40 seconds on the clock.

Durant had a shot to put the Nets back up in the final seconds, but he missed the rim entirely - which then sealed the four-point win for the Bucks.

Antetokounmpo finished with 40 points and 13 rebounds on the night while playing 50 minutes and shooting 15-of-24 from the field.

Middleton added 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Durant dropped 48 points for the Nets, the most scored by any player in a Game 7 in NBA history, and played in all 53 minutes.

He nearly had a triple-double, adding nine rebounds and six assists. James Harden put up 22 points with nine rebounds and nine assists in 53 minutes, too.

The Nets will advance to take on either the Philadelphia 76ers or Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals.

The 76ers-Hawks series will play their Game 7 on Sunday (local time).

Ryan Young - Yahoo Sports US

Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.