Bucks top Nets in epic Game 7
Clippers to take on Suns after beting Jazz • Sixers come from behind, force Game 7 vs. Hawks
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 40 points, including the tying basket in overtime, and Khris Middleton hit the go-ahead shot with 40.7 seconds left as the Milwaukee Bucks pulled out a 115-111 victory over the host Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Bucks survived a 48-point performance by Kevin Durant, the most points ever scored in a Game 7, topping the record of 47 shared by Dominique Wilkins during the 1988 postseason and Sam Jones in 1963.
In coming back from losing the first two games, the Bucks advanced to the conference finals for the 10th time, and second time in three seasons.
Antetokounmpo capped a 15-for-24 shooting performance by hitting a turnaround hook shot in the lane over Kevin Durant with 72 seconds left, and the Bucks took the lead for good when Middleton hit a fadeaway 12-footer just over 30 seconds later.
Following Middleton’s clutch shot, Durant missed a 10-foot fadeaway with 34.7 seconds left. After Middleton missed a 12-footer with 14.9 seconds left, Durant missed a 23-foot turnaround jumper with three-tenths of a second left and Brook Lopez sealed it at the line.
The Nets had taken a 111-109 lead on a putback by Brown 22 seconds into overtime and neither team scored until Antetokounmpo’s turnaround hook shot over Durant.
The third-seeded Bucks will face Sunday’s Game 7 winner between the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks in the conference finals.
The Nets forced overtime in dramatic fashion after blowing a five-point lead in the final four minutes of regulation.
Durant forged a 109-109 deadlock when he hit a well-contested 23-footer over P.J. Tucker with 1.6 seconds left. Officials confirmed via replay that Durant’s toe was on the 3-point line.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers ended one of the NBA’s most infamous droughts in epic fashion on Friday night.
A most unusual and unexpected Western Conference finals series is scheduled to begin on Sunday, when the Clippers head into unchartered territory by visiting the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of the best-of-seven set.
The fourth-seeded Clippers advanced to the conference finals for the first time in their 51-year history Friday night by mounting a stunning comeback to beat the top-seeded Utah Jazz, 131-119, in
Game 6 of a conference semifinal in Los Angeles.
The second-seeded Suns have been off since June 13, when they completed a four-game conference semifinal sweep of the host Denver Nuggets with a 125118 win.
The Clippers’ win Friday night was a cathartic one for a franchise that’s been perpetually star-crossed and nomadic since it was founded as the Buffalo Braves in 1970.
The Braves made three straight Eastern Conference semifinals from 1974-76 but didn’t win another playoff round for 30 years, a span during which they moved twice - first to San Diego, where the franchise was renamed the Clippers, and then to Los Angeles.
Prior to Friday, the Clippers were 0-8 all-time with a chance to win a conference semifinal series, including 0-3 last summer when they squandered a 3-1 lead against the Nuggets. Los Angeles looked sure to fall to 0-9 Friday, when the Jazz raced out to a 22-point halftime lead and extended the lead to 25 early in the third quarter.
But after Utah’s Donovan Mitchell hit a 3-pointer to open the second half, the Clippers mounted an 81-44 game-ending run, a span in which they shot a scorching 71.4 percent (30-of-42) from the field.
Joel Embiid scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers rallied for a 104-99 win over the host Atlanta Hawks to stave off elimination in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
They were set to meet in Game 7 on Sunday night in Philadelphia. (Reuters)