Kevin Durant posts 49-point triple-double to save ‘wounded’ Brooklyn Nets in Game 5

The Brooklyn Nets signed Kevin Durant two years in the past, contemporary off the torn Achilles he suffered within the NBA finals, as a result of they believed he may lead them there. Tuesday night time, with Brooklyn’s season on the road in Sport 5 of the Japanese Convention semifinals in opposition to the Milwaukee Bucks, Durant proved the Nets’ religion in him was well-placed.

Durant had arguably one of the best efficiency of his profession Tuesday night time, ending with 49 factors on 16-for-23 taking pictures to go together with 17 rebounds and 10 assists whereas taking part in 48 minutes in Brooklyn’s 114-108 victory over Milwaukee to provide the Nets a 3-2 lead on this best-of-seven affair.

“I didn’t even take into consideration nothing however simply every possession,” Durant stated afterward. “I used to be attempting to win every possession, and I didn’t consider what number of factors I had or shot makes an attempt, rebounds, assists.

“It was extra so like, ‘Simply let me do what I have to do every possession.’ That’s the strategy I all the time take.”

What Durant wanted to do on each possession on this recreation for Brooklyn was, properly, just about all the pieces. With Kyrie Irving out for Sport 5 — and who is aware of how for much longer — with a sprained proper ankle he suffered within the second quarter of Sport 4, and Harden on the court docket for the primary time since struggling a hamstring pressure 43 seconds into Sport 1, it was going to take a particular Durant efficiency for Brooklyn to win.

And a particular efficiency is precisely what Durant delivered. He instructed Nets coach Steve Nash early within the recreation, after Milwaukee jumped out to an early lead, that he may keep in if Nash wanted him to. So Nash, well, determined to depart Durant on the market, as he helped Brooklyn finally crawl its method again from a 16-point halftime deficit to regain management of this sequence.

“It’s ridiculous what he’s in a position to do,” Nash stated. “We all know he’s able to nights like this, however to do it tonight … we lose [Irving], James clearly goes by his illnesses, we’re down our bodies, we’re wounded. And for him to have that toughness, that mentality, that’s what makes him one of many all-time greats.

“This can be a efficiency that’s a signature efficiency for Kevin, and it was lovely to look at.”

It wasn’t fairly as lovely for the Bucks, who left Barclays Heart in defeat for the third time on this sequence. However not like Video games 1 and a pair of, when Brooklyn dominated for the overwhelming majority of each contests, it was Milwaukee that was accountable for this one for a lot of the night time.

The Bucks jumped out to a double-digit lead within the first quarter and maintained a snug cushion properly into the third quarter. However Brooklyn was in a position to hold the sport in attain because of a sensational efficiency from Jeff Inexperienced, who had 27 factors in 35 minutes off the bench, together with going 7-for-8 from 3-point vary, and 17 factors and one other three 3-pointers from Blake Griffin, earlier than Durant took over within the fourth quarter.

Whereas Milwaukee held an 87-81 lead after three quarters, the Bucks scored 21 factors within the fourth. Durant, in the meantime, scored 20 himself within the fourth, together with a troublesome 3-pointer because the shot clock was expiring with 50.5 seconds left that gave the Nets a four-point lead.

“Simply hold making it robust,” Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo stated when requested how the Bucks may attempt to gradual Durant down. “Clearly probably the greatest scorers to ever play the sport.

“It’s robust. He’s one of the best participant on the earth proper now, and we’ve received to beat him as a staff. We’ve received to protect him as a staff, and we’ve received to make him make robust photographs, like tonight, and we’ve simply received to maintain doing our job, and hopefully he’s going to overlook. However we’ve received to maintain doing our job, hold guarding collectively, hold displaying assist, hold making it robust, hold selecting him up full court docket.

“We’ve to only hold containing him as a lot as attainable, however on the finish of the day, he’s completed an unbelievable job. Greatest participant on the earth, finest scorer on the earth. … There’s going to be nights the place he’s going to do what he did tonight and have 50, and there’s going to be nights that we’re going to attempt to comprise him as a lot as attainable and provides ourselves an opportunity to be within the recreation and be in place to win the sport.”

The Bucks held Durant to only 20-for-53 taking pictures in Video games 3 and 4 in Milwaukee. However after Milwaukee was in a position to be aggressive guarding Durant in these video games, the officers known as a tighter recreation in Sport 5, leading to Durant taking 16 journeys to the foul line, and each Jrue Vacation and P.J. Tucker — the 2 main defenders in opposition to Durant — selecting up some early fouls.

Vacation, specifically, expressed frustration afterward concerning the calls in opposition to him.

“I had three fouls within the first half, [Tucker] had 2, Giannis had 2, and I really feel like a variety of these aren’t equal, or the identical, on either side,” Vacation stated.

Nonetheless, Milwaukee had its possibilities. With 15.6 seconds left, Antetokounmpo, who had 34 factors and 12 rebounds in 42 minutes, fumbled a move from Middleton that, had he caught it, would’ve led to a simple dunk to tie the rating.

As an alternative, Durant grabbed the free ball after Antetokounmpo dropped it, sank each free throws and despatched Brooklyn on its approach to a win.

“I simply wasn’t in a position to get my two arms on it,” Antetokounmpo stated. “Nice move by Khris, I tousled that play.

“However on the finish of the day, I can’t deal with that. That’s prior to now. We misplaced the sport. Received to deal with Sport 6, hopefully we may be in the identical place as a staff and if Khris makes the identical move I can seize it and end the play. However now we have to deal with Sport 6, received to get one at residence, defend residence.”

The Nets have been in a position to defend residence in Sport 5, simply as every staff has completed by the primary 5 video games of this sequence. And Brooklyn was solely in a position to do this as a result of Durant occurred to have maybe the best recreation of his legendary profession precisely when his staff wanted it essentially the most.

However because the Nets head to Milwaukee to attempt to shut out the Bucks in Sport 6 on Thursday night time, Durant was merely wanting ahead to getting again on the court docket as soon as once more.

“To be trustworthy, I don’t even rank or have a look at performances,” he stated. “As soon as they occur, I simply attempt to transfer on and see if I can do it once more. It was a enjoyable recreation to be part of. There’s a variety of video games in my profession that I felt like have been simply as enjoyable. I’m certain once I mirror on it we will discuss it once more, however for now it was nice that we received the W.”