Kevin Durant’s 30 points not enough to hold off the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3

Just days after the Brooklyn Nets embarrassed the Milwaukee Bucks beating them by 39 points, the Bucks came into game three with a much more efficient strategy to cut the Nets series lead to 2-1.

Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer took a new approach by playing Giannis Antetokounmpo practically the whole game, having the two-time MVP on the court for 43 minutes. Milwaukee also kept center Brook Lopez in the game in clutch time to help make the jumpers from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant much more difficult. Lopez also blocked Bruce Brown’s potential go-ahead game winning layup.

This game looked like it was fresh out of the Jordan era, with the final score being 86-83. Durant shot a series worst 39% from the field, and the rest of his team was not much better. As a team, the Nets shot 36% from the field and 25% from three.

The frustration from Durant and the Nets was evident, especially when he and former Longhorn teammate, P.J. Tucker, got into a slight scuffle on the court.

In game two, the Nets had five players score in double digits with two other players scoring nine and eight points. The offensive support was just not there in game three, as the five other players not named Durant, Irving, or Brown combined for 15 points.

Nets head coach Steve Nash has to make some counter adjustments in order to help Durant and Irving score at a more efficient clip while getting more players involved. It helps he has offensive guru mike D’antoni on his sideline, but it is games like these where missing one of the best offensive players in league history, James Harden, exposes the Nets fragility.

“He’s (Harden) progressing nicely as well,” Nash said of Harden. “So we’re optimistic that we can have him back at some point.”

Durant rarely has two bad games in a row, and even with his worst scoring performance, his team only lost by three. It is safe to say he and the Nets are still very well in the drivers seat.