From the hand of star Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets set fire to the Milwaukee Buck by beating them 125-86 this Monday, to put the semifinal series of the NBA Eastern Conference 2-0 in their favor.
If they wanted to send a message to the competition in these playoffs, New Yorkers would not do better, as so far they are impregnable, confirming that they are the big favorites to succeed the Los Angeles Lakers on the NBA throne.
On Saturday, Brooklyn had waited for the third quarter to pick up speed. This time, the team coached by Canadian Steve Nash lit the spark from the beginning.
The Nets went into the intermission with a large 65-41 advantage, thus sealing the fate of the game. This first period was a festival, mixing efficiency, particularly on three-point shots with nine of 17 attempts (21 of 42 at the end of the game).
Durant had a spectacular night with 32 points, his guard Kyrie Irving followed with 22 points and the impressive dunks of Blake Griffin.
Brooklyn then offered the luxury of offering playing time to the bench, an opportunity that Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot took advantage of with three points and an assist in seven minutes.
Nash’s quality of offensive play – who was one of the most important ambassadors in his time as a player, awarded two MVP trophies -, his variety and his efficiency are a model of the game.
– All this, without Harden –
The road is obviously still long and it will be necessary for the Nets to win a title first, to enter into the discussion with the Lakers period with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or the Warriors of a «Big3» that was part of Kevin Durant with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. But they are certainly taking the right path and very quickly.
Having said that, one would have almost forgotten that this armada lacks one of its best elements, in the person of James Harden.
Suffering from the right hamstring, his absence is indefinite, which is not reassuring, especially when it comes to a relapse after the muscle tear that had kept him off the courts for five weeks in the spring.
But Brooklyn isn’t suffering at all at the moment in a series where the Bucks defense takes water too easily.
The Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds and his teammates will have to really strengthen their game and also show something more offensively.
Game 3 of this best-of-seven series will be Thursday in Milwaukee. (GG) (AFP)