Photo via Twitter / Bucks
Only one word is needed to sum up Thursday night’s game six matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets: tension. Milwaukee faced their first win-or-go home situation of the 2021 playoffs on Thursday, and fortunately lived to force a game seven in Brooklyn on Saturday night, winning by a final of 104-89.
The home team has won each game of this series so far, and signs were promising for the Bucks as they tipped off in front of a capacity crowd at Fiserv Forum. A hot start from Milwaukee with an 18-5 run to start the game was encouraging, but Bucks fans likely still felt uneasy with the memory of dropping a 17-point lead on Tuesday fresh in their minds. Milwaukee was playing with purpose, and looked to have a more disciplined offensive game plan than Tuesday night’s contest. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a few chances to pull up and shoot from distance early, but opted to pass instead, to the relief of just about everyone not in a Brooklyn Nets uniform.
Twice, Milwaukee thwarted a strong run of points from Brooklyn. Headed into the halftime break, the Nets, led by Kevin Durant cut the Bucks’ lead down to as low as five points. A botched last-second effort from the Bucks as time expired somehow led to a second effort basket, and Milwaukee held an 11 point lead going into the half.
The second strong effort from the Nets was largely Durant’s doing, contributing to the majority of a scoring run that reduced the Bucks’ lead to five points with just over eight minutes left in the game. Again, flashbacks to Tuesday likely happened, as that was around the point where Brooklyn took over at Barclays Center to sneak out a game five win. However, a number of important defensive stops, which the Bucks were able to convert on, broke things open. Milwaukee would call off the dogs, and Brooklyn conceded with around five minutes to play, both teams sending in their reserves as the Bucks were up by a score of 102-83.
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Khris Middleton led the scoring for Milwaukee with 38 points, and as he has done many times this season, proved that he can take over a game when the defensive attention goes to Giannis Antetokounmpo in the paint. Giannis finished with 30 points as well, and played a much more confident game in the second half. The big three of Giannis, Middleton and Jrue Holiday combined for 89 of the Bucks’ 104 points.
It all comes down to game seven on Saturday night, with a winner-take-all matchup in Brooklyn, where Milwaukee has yet to win this year. Considering Milwaukee appeared dead in the water in the first two games of the series at Barclays Center, forcing game seven is a small victory in itself, but if Milwaukee wants to reach their second conference finals of this millennium, they’ll have to escape from New York first.
You can catch game seven of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m., with the game airing nationally on TNT. Downtown Milwaukee felt like Summerfest last night, and fans are encouraged to once again gather at the Deer District to cheer on the team. Watch party information can be found on the Deer District website.
