Kevin Durant finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds in 40 minutes during Brooklyn’s Game 1 win.
Game 2: Bucks at Nets
7:30 p.m. ET, TNT | Nets lead 1-0
• After playing together for all five games of the first round (their longest streak as teammates), the Brooklyn Big 3 played less than a minute together in Game 1 as James Harden exited after just 43 seconds with a hamstring injury and is out for Game 2. Kevin Durant (29) and Kyrie Irving (25) combined for 54 points and Irving took over the facilitator role with a team-high eight assists while playing a game-high 45 minutes. The Nets also got a huge lift from Blake Griffin, who recorded his first playoff double-double (18 points, 14 rebounds) since 2016.
• Including Game 1 when Harden left after only one minute, the Nets are 8-6 when both Durant and Irving play without Harden, including four straight wins. In those 14 games, Durant is averaging 25.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists, while Irving is averaging 23.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists.
• For the second straight series, the Bucks struggled to shoot the 3 in Game 1. Milwaukee shot just 5-31 (16.1%) in Game 1 against Miami, but was still able to pull out a two-point win. In Game 1 against Brooklyn, Milwaukee shot just 6-30 (20%) in their eight-point loss. However, in Game 2 against Miami, the Bucks bounced back to go 22-53 (41.5%) from deep; can they do the same against Brooklyn?
• The Bucks won the points in the paint in Game 1 72-48. But that 24-point advantage was not enough to make up for their 27-point deficit from beyond the arc as the Nets won the long distance battle 45-18. In the regular season and playoffs combined, the Bucks are 35-13 when winning points in the paint and just 15-14 when tied or losing points in the paint.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with a game-high 34 points on 16-24 shooting, while Brook Lopez added 19 on 8-11 shooting. While Giannis and Lopez combined to shoot 24-35 (68.6%), the rest of the Bucks shot just 21-66 (31.8%) in Game 1, including a 6-23 game from Khris Middleton – tied for the second-lowest FG% he’s posted in 66 games with at least 20 shot attempts . Giannis scored 20 of his 34 points (58.8%) in 5:44 of matchup time (52.5%) against Blake Griffin, shooting 9-12 from the field and 2-3 from 3-point range.
Devin Booker averaged 26.5 points on 52.6% shooting in two games against the Nuggets this season.
Game 1: Nuggets at Suns
10 p.m. ET, TNT | Series Hub
• Denver won the season series with Phoenix 2-1, with the three games coming over a 22-day span in January. The road team won all three games, each game was decided by eight points or less, and the two Denver wins came in overtime. There were 28 minutes of clutch time played over those three games, where Nikola Jokic (9-16 FG, 1-2 3P, 6-7 FT) and Chris Paul (10-19 FG, 1-4 3P, 4-4 FT) each scored 25 clutch points.
• Jokic averaged 25.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.7 steals in three games against the Suns. Denver’s second-leading scorer in the season series – Jamal Murray at 25.0 ppg – is out with a torn ACL. The only other double-digit scorers the Nuggets had against the Suns were Monte Morris (13.3), Gary Harris (12.0, no longer with team) and Michael Porter Jr. (10.5).
• Phoenix’s Deandre Ayton defended Nikola Jokic for the third-most minutes of any player in the league this season. In 22:44 of matchup time over three games, Jokic scored 29 points on 13-34 (38.2%) from the field and did not attempt a free throw, while adding 13 assists to only three turnovers. Jokic’s 38.2% shooting against Ayton was his lowest mark against the 23 players that defended him for at least 10 minutes this season.
• Deandre Ayton will also be key for Phoenix on the offensive end. During the first round, he had the highest field goal percentage of any player who started every game of the series (79.6%). In three games against the Nuggets during the regular season, Ayton averaged 22 points on 70% shooting as well as 12.3 rebounds in 37.4 minutes.
• In his first postseason, Devin Booker has scored 30 or more points in four out of six games and is coming off a 47-point performance in Phoenix’s close-out win over the Lakers. In two games against the Nuggets this season, Booker averaged 26.5 points on 52.6% shooting from the field and 37.5% from 3-point range, but also averaged 6.5 turnovers – his highest mark against any opponent this season. During the regular season, the Nuggets averaged 18.0 points off turnovers overall (7th in NBA) and 20.7 against the Suns (3rd).
