Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton scores 38 points as the Bucks top Brooklyn to force a Game 7.
Khris Middleton and the Milwaukee Bucks refused to fold under pressure and wouldn’t allow Kevin Durant to produce one more remarkable comeback that could end their second-round playoff series.
Bucks 104, Nets 89
Middleton set a career playoff high with 38 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo added 30 and the Milwaukee Bucks never trailed in a 10489 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night at home to force a decisive seventh game.
Game 7 will be Saturday night in Brooklyn. The home team has won each of the first six games in this series.
“We don’t think about any type of pressure at all,” Middleton said. “It’s a basketball game. It’s as simple as that. I know it’s lose-orgo-home, but at the same time, it’s just basketball. You’ve got to have fun with it. Those moments are fun, you know, when the game’s on the line.”
Milwaukee bounced back two nights after blowing a 17point lead in a 114-108 Game 5 loss at Brooklyn that featured an epic 49-point, 17-rebound, 10-assist performance from Durant.
The Bucks shot just 7 of 33 from 3-point range but made up for it by outscoring the Nets 26-4 in fast-break points.
“It definitely hurt us,” Nets coach Steve Nash said of the fast-break points. “That’s where they’re really strong. I thought we had some problems getting back in transition.”
Durant occasionally seemed on the verge of leading the Nets back once again Thursday.
He scored 10 straight Nets points during one thirdquarter stretch as Brooklyn narrowed a 14-point deficit to five. He sparked a 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter that got the margin down to five again.
Each time, Middleton responded by making a basket or getting to the free-throw line.
“You know in those moments, he’s going to make the right play,” Antetokounmpo said. “We know that when he feels good, we’ve got to give him the ball.”
Middleton shot 11 of 16 from the floor and 11 of 12 on free-throw attempts and had 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals. Antetokounmpo shot 12 of 20 and had 17 rebounds. Jrue Holiday added 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Durant had 32 points and 11 rebounds. James Harden added 16 points for Brooklyn but still looked as though he was at far less than full strength in his second game since returning from a hamstring injury.
Harden had left Game 1 in the opening minute with right hamstring tightness and returned in Game 5 but shot 1 of 10 and scored just five points.
“I’m out there to do whatever it takes to win,” Harden said. “I’ve got to be better on both ends of the ball, which I will be in Game 7.”
The Bucks owned a 14point lead early in the second half before Durant again sparked a third-quarter comeback.
Carlise steps down
Rick Carlisle stepped down as coach of the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, the second major departure for that franchise in as many days.
Carlisle spent 13 seasons in Dallas, leading the Mavericks to the 2011 NBA title. His decision was announced one day after General Manager Donnie Nelson and the team agreed to part ways, ending a 24-year run for Nelson as part of the organization.
“This was solely my decision,” Carlisle said in a statement released to ESPN shortly before the team announced that he was leaving.