With no Kyrie Irving and a hobbled James Harden, the Brooklyn Nets were going to need everything Kevin Durant had if they were to get the win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
He did everything and more, becoming the first player in NBA history to reach 45-plus points, 15-plus rebounds and 10-plus assists in a playoff game, according to the Nets and The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Durant played all 48 minutes of the 114-108 Nets win. He scored or assisted on 43 of Brooklyn’s final 52 points to lead the team to a 17-point comeback and victory.
Overall, Durant finished with 49 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists. He shot 16-for-23 from the floor and had three steals and two blocks.
Twenty of his points came in the fourth quarter alone.
The only other players in NBA history to reach 40 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a playoff game are Oscar Robertson in 1963, Charles Barkley in 1993 and Luka Doncic in 2020.
Brooklyn needed it, as Harden clearly wasn’t himself. He scored five points on 1-for-10 shooting in 46 minutes of play.
A different former Oklahoma City Thunder player took on the extra load. Jeff Green, coming off the bench, scored 27 points while shooting 7-for-8 from 3.
Green also helped force a turnover on Giannis Antetokounmpo with about 15 seconds to play. Had Antetokounmpo been able to handle the pass and score, he would have tied the game.
Antetokounmpo finished with 34 points.
The Nets took a 3-2 series lead with the victory and will have a chance to close it out in Game 6.
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