Milwaukee’s season was on the line at the Fiserv Forum for Game 6 and they played with urgency from the start of Thursday’s game. The Bucks built a 13-point lead early on, but saw the Nets trim away at it thanks to James Harden, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin. Harden was looking better than he did in Game 5, but the question was whether he could sustain that performance over four quarters.
The Bucks finished the first half shooting 51 percent from the field to propel themselves to a 59-48 lead. Giannis Antetokounmpo (19 PTS, 11 REBS) was the game’s leading scorer going in the third period, but it was Khris Middleton’s 17-point second quarter that kept the Nets at bay.
Harden (14 PTS, 4 ASTS) and Durant (13 PTS, 7 REBS) were the leading scorers for Brooklyn. The Nets’ eight turnovers were critical because it led to 13 transition points for Milwaukee. They had to take care of the ball heading into the second half.
In the third period, Brooklyn continued to struggle offensively, and were held to 19 points in the third quarter. Durant had 12 of those 19 points.
In the final period, the Nets got it down to a five-point game after Joe Harris’ first three of the night. It seemed like the momentum was finally with this team – until Middleton was fouled by Harris when shooting a three. After that, the Bucks began to dominate thanks to Middleton as he ended his night with a game-high of 38 points on 11-of-16 shooting. He helped push the lead to as many as 21 at one point.
Milwaukee took Game 6 104-89 to tie the series at 3-3. All eyes will be on Kyrie Irving’s status for Game 7 on Saturday and James Harden’s progression.