Kyrie Irving signed his best game of the season this Saturday for the Brooklyn Nets they will demolish at home the Milwaukee Bucks (123-126) in an exciting game with a playoff aroma.
Apart from his controversial decision not to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, Irving showed that he is still one of the best point guards in the league and shone against the defending NBA champions with 38 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a fabulous calm on free throws (8 of 9) to give the Nets the victory.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (29 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists) missed a triple at the buzzer to force overtime.
without the injured Kevin Durant and a Ben Simmons who has not yet debuted, the New Yorkers shone in the third quarter (34-43) and relied on recent signings Andre Drummond (17 points with 7 of 9 shooting, 12 rebounds and 5 assists) and Seth Curry (19 points).
Before visiting Milwaukee, the Nets had 13 losses in their last 15 games.
For their part, the Bucks they deflated in the final stretch of the game, suffered at the free throw line (25 of 38) and lost 14 balls (7 from the Nets).
Beside Antetokounmpo shine with its own light Bobby Portisextraordinary with 8 triples for a total of 30 points and 12 rebounds.
The Spanish Serge Ibaka played 15 minutes for the Bucks in which he contributed 8 points and 4 rebounds.
PORTIS ASKS PASS
Bobby Portis I decided early on that I wanted to be a lead.
With 8 points (including two triples) and an overwhelming waste of delivery, the pvot boosted the Bucks and quickly put the fans in his pocket (16-8 with 7.08 on the clock).
Kyrie Irvingvery cunning and full of resources in each attack, held some Nets in which Goran Dragic debuted.
but between Giannis Antetokounmpo and the occasional appearances of secondary actors such as Serge Ibaka (6 points coming off the bench), the locals were enough to close the first quarter ahead (32-25).
An 0-8 run encouraged the Nets (32-33 with 10:15 to play), who found oil in Seth Curry’s finesse on the perimeter and the power of Andre Drummond inside.
Regardless, the first half was a matchup of Irving versus Antetokounmpo and Portis.
The base invented impossible baskets and amazing movements to reach the break with 17 points (8 of 13 in triples) while the towers of the Bucks got 14 points each so that the Milwaukee ones went to the locker room with an advantage (59-53 ) against some awful Nets from 3-point range (3-for-15).
THE NETS TRIUMPH IN THE MADNESS
As if they had found a magic recipe in the break, the Nets they shaped a 0-12 run that radically changed the sign of the match (70-76 with 7.15 to play).
There came the worst minutes of the Bucks, without a compass in attack and without remedy in defense for a Nets increasingly loose from the hand of Irving, Curry, Drummond and a Bruce Brown who also put his grain of sand.
At that moment of urgency, Portis returned with two triples so that the Bucks woke up and recomposed themselves from the claw in defense and the precision of Khris Middleton (93-96).
In the end, the Nets took a third quarter 34-43 that was as crazy as it was exciting.
No time to waste, two triples more than Portis allowed the Bucks regain control in the last quarter against the Nets who seemed to doubt whether they could really knock down the Bucks (109-103 with 7:17 to go).
The answer was found in Irving.
With an endless catalog of penetrations and incredible shots, the point guard put the team on his back and managed to turn the score around once again (112-113 with 3.05 to play).
In those moments of nerves and cold sweat, Brown scored a three-pointer from the corner (116-118 with 1.39 to go) that the Nets later underpinned with two fantastic blocks. Drummond y Johnson on Antetokounmpo y Portis, respectively.
Ultimately, the game turned into a never-ending free-throw thriller, and the Bucks shrugged as Irving puffed out his chest to take the win for Brooklyn.
