NBA Playoff Recap: June 13, 2021

Milwaukee Bucks 107, Brooklyn Nets 96

Series tied 2-2

FINAL BOX SCORE

We arrived in Milwaukee for Game 3 of this series thinking the Nets were on their way to closing things out. Two games later, and it looks like the tables have completely turned.

The big turning point happened midway through the second quarter. After attempting a layup, Kyrie Irving landed on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s foot and he severely rolled his right ankle. Irving was ruled out for the rest of the game. His initial X-rays came back negative, but his status for the remainder of Brooklyn’s postseason run is very much up in the air.

This latest injury truly puts the Nets’ championship aspirations in jeopardy. James Harden’s absence has been substantial, but the team still had two more superstars on hand to carry the load. With Irving’s injury, and still no timetable set for Harden’s return, Brooklyn went from having three elite self-reliant scorers to just one.

That one, Kevin Durant, did what he could in Irving’s absence. He had a 16-point performance in the third quarter. Unfortunately, he proceeded to go scoreless in the fourth quarter. Durant ended the evening with 28 points. Besides Irving’s 11, no other Net finished the game with double-digit points.

All that said, Milwaukee certainly did their part to earn this victory. For one, they finally found their shooting touch again! After shooting 22.7 percent from 3-point range through the first three games, the Bucks went 16-of-47 (34.0 percent) from distance in Game 4. That’s the first time in this series that they’ve shot over 30.0 percent. It’s also the most 3’s they’ve made since Game 2 of the first round and their best percentage since Game 3 of that round.

The Bucks also feasted in transition, outscoring Brooklyn 20-6 in fastbreak points. A lot of the credit there goes to Giannis. He did a much better job at getting a head of steam on the break before Brooklyn was able to set up their Giannis Wall.

Milwaukee also had another strong defensive effort. They held the Nets under 100 points for the second consecutive game. The Bucks also swiped 10 steals, swatted seven shots, and forced 17 turnovers, converting them into 25 points.

After their rough start to the series, they seemed to have found their defensive footing again. If Irving is out for an extended amount of time, forcing Durant to lead alone, Milwaukee will likely find it even easier to clamp down on Brooklyn’s attack as the series continues.

Phoenix Suns 125, Denver Nuggets 118

Suns win series 4-0

FINAL BOX SCORE

Despite the result, this game was particularly quirky from a statistical standpoint: Denver actually beat Phoenix in a number of key scoring categories. The Nuggets outscored the Suns from 3-point range 42-24. They also won the battles in the paint (54-48), on second chance points (13-8), and on the fastbreak (20-10). Denver also forced more turnovers (14 takeaways to Phoenix’s eight) and scored more points off of them (21-13).

So how the heck did Phoenix still come out with the upper hand? Free throws and mid-range shots! While both teams committed about the same amount of fouls (Denver 24, Phoenix 21), the Suns were much more adept at using those fouls to get to the line. Phoenix took 31 attempts from the charity stripe to Denver’s 21, and soundly outscored them 29-14.

The Suns also outscored the Nuggets 24-8 on 2-pointers outside of the paint. Chris Paul was almost singlehandedly responsible for that statistic. He went 10-of-15 from that zone, completely outclassing Denver’s collective 4-of-12 output. The 3-ball still rules in the NBA, but sometimes enough 1’s and 2’s can get a team over the finish line. Now Phoenix has earned themselves an extended rest as they await their conference finals opponent in either the Utah Jazz or Los Angeles Clippers.