Tag: 2021 NBA playoffs

Nets fans hilariously troll Giannis Antetokounmpo into airballing a free throw by counting seconds

The free throw taunts continue for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Basketball fans did it once again to Giannis Antetokounmpo, and this time he airballed a free throw because of it. During Saturday’s elimination Game 7 between the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, Antetokounmpo stepped up to the free throw line with less than four minutes left in the second quarter when fans got in on the action.

Nets fans took a page out of Miami fans books and trolled Antetokounmpo by counting down the seconds during his free throw, causing The Greek Freak to completely airball the attempt in hilarious fashion. Taking too long on free throw attempts has been a problem for Antetokounmpo for some time now, and earlier in these playoffs he was whistled for a 10-second violation during a free throw attempt in the Heat series.

Here’s how Saturday’s incident went down for Antetokounmpo in a key situation with the Bucks down 43-38.

I have a feeling this countdown is going to follow Antetokounmpo for some time as long as he continues to take his time at the free throw line.

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NBA Playoffs: Two Longhorns set to square off in winner-take-all Game 7

Former Longhorns Kevin Durant and PJ Tucker will face off in a winner-take-all Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Saturday.

There has likely never been a conference semifinal game with more importance than tonight’s Brooklyn Nets vs. Milwaukee Bucks winner-take-all Game 7.

One teams championship hopes end here and legacies are on the line.

The Brooklyn Nets seemed to have the upper hand after Kevin Durant’s game five performance where he scored 49 points and asserted himself as the best player in the world. It was a performance that many thought clinched the series for the Nets, but the Bucks came back in game six with an amazing defensive performance and a dominant game by Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Durant will need to show up big again, as the Nets have already ruled out Kyrie Irving and James Harden is clearly not playing like himself as he has only scored 14 points combined in his two games back.

Although P.J. Tucker has had minimal success guarding Kevin Durant, it will be interesting to see if Antetokounmpo will attempt to go star-on-star. This game can absolutely be detrimental to the legacy of Antetokounmpo, who many are starting to doubt can be the best player on a contending team.

Durant and the Nets on the other hand will be ridiculed so harshly if they do not win the championship this season, regardless of injury, people will remember the team having three elite stars, not who was out. Durant may act as if he does not feel pressure in the moment, but he is certainly a player who occasionally lets fans opinions get in his head.

If the Nets are to win, Durant needs to replicate or even exceed his performance in game five.

Kevin Durant supplants himself atop the basketball world, Nets take series lead

The Brooklyn Nets took a 3-2 series lead over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night thanks for a historic night from Kevin Durant.

Just a day ago, seemingly every basketball fan and analyst from media outlets were questioning  Kevin Durant’s greatness. Some even proclaimed that Durant had yet to have a signature game in his career that puts him in the conversation with players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan.

With the Brooklyn Nets championship hopes fading due to injuries, Durant stepped up in a huge way to take the 3-2 series lead over Giannis and the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.

The Nets were without Kyrie Irving, who had hurt his ankle in game four, and they were essentially without James Harden who tried to push through his hamstring injury. Harden’s leg was wrapped like a Christmas present, and his shooting stroke was anywhere but in Brooklyn as he shot 1-of-10 scoring just five points.

Durant had everyone in the world’s attention with his performance on Tuesday where he scored 49 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and dished out 10 assists. After having a couple off games with the absences of Harden and Kyrie, that saw Durant shooting 37% from the field, Milwaukee’s P.J. Tucker was seemingly deemed the “Durant Stopper.”

The Bucks had no answer, and Giannis Antetokounmpo who many thought would surpass Durant and LeBron James as the best in the world, expressed himself after the game that Durant is the best player in the world right now.

 

Not only did Durant step up his scoring by shooting close to 70% from the field, he did everything the Nets needed in order to push them past the Bucks. This included breaking history as he became the first player to have at least 45 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a playoff game. He also played the entire 48 minutes of the game for just the third time in his career.

Durant was unstoppable and he also received a great performance from Jeff Green who added 27 points off the bench after he hit seven threes.

It was a performance so amazing that all Nets head coach Steve Nash could do after the game was give Durant a huge hug.

Durant has often been the guy that was just born at the wrong time, because he and LeBron’s careers intersected at an inopportune time that saw LeBron in his prime.

With LeBron showing that he is actually human and slowing down, Durant’s performance last night might have just been the passing of the torch. Prior to last night’s game, there was yet to be a “Durant game,” but his 49 points and a huge win when his team was depleted by injuries is just a sign of Durant taking the title while chasing a title.

After game four, Durant and the Nets’ season was in jeopardy, and if the team does anything less than win it all they will be crucified. The Nets had lost what many considered to be a guaranteed spot in the NBA Finals and were showing signs of being exposed.

Now, the Nets have the upper hand in the series and Durant has the basketball world in his hands.

Bucks tie series 2-2 and it’s now Kevin Durant vs. the world

Breaking down the former Longhorns struggles in the NBA playoffs.

The Brooklyn Nets “big three” is now just a lone star.

James Harden injured his hamstring in game one, and in last night’s game four loss, Kyrie Irving went down with an ankle injury that will withhold him from the lineup for game five.

If you ask former Celtic Glenn Davis, he felt it was “karma” for Irving’s shoe drag across the Celtic’s logo during the last series.

Whether or not it is karma is for you to decide, but the main takeaway from game four is that Kevin Durant needs to carry the Nets by himself until reinforcements return.

With Irving in the lineup, the Milwaukee Bucks defense was not able to key in on Durant, and the Nets actually led by 11 at one point. After Irving left, the Nets collapsed. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo thrived scoring 34, and the Nets seemingly lost all ability to score and are no longer a lock to make it to the NBA Finals.

Durant managed to score 28 points, but had a horrible night efficiency wise. He shot 36% from the field and 12.5% from three. This was largely in part due to former Longhorn, P.J. Tucker, who was an absolute menace to Durant all game holding him to nine points when he guarded him.

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Tucker also added 13 points in game four, which is more than he scored in the first few games as he had only totaled up nine points in the first three games of the series.

In the series against the Celtics, Durant, Harden and Irving averaged 85.2 points, 21.0 rebounds and 16.4 assists. Subtracting his fellow two stars means the Durant and the Nets need to make up for losing 46 points, something that has been proving to be extremely difficult. Durant is averaging 31 points per game, and now after the injuries, Joe Harris is the second leading scorer averaging 12 points per game.

The Bucks had no issue clamping Durant and the rest of the team as, besides Irving who left the game early, not a single other player scored in double digits for the Nets.

Offense was supposed to be the strength of the Nets, to make up for the putrid defense, but now they lost their identity. Durant is not a slouch by any means, and is one of the top five players in the world, but he will certainly need to turn his performance around in order to survive this series.

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

Breaking down Kevin Durant’s performance and the Brooklyn Nets’ struggles in game three against the Milwaukee Bucks.

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.

Grading the Boston Celtics Game 4 vs. the Brooklyn Nets, player-by-player

It wasn’t Boston’s best by a long shot, but perhaps it wasn’t far off from the best the Celtics could do with who was available.

The Boston Celtics just couldn’t keep up with the Brooklyn Nets in Game 4 of their first-round series on Sunday, falling 141 – 126 with several key players out and a more focused opponent taking full advantage of every mistake their young roster made — and they made plenty.

In grading the team’s Game 4 performance on a player-by-player basis, we tried to take into account each member of Boston’s roster who saw enough floor time to make an impact into context as well as where they are at in their career. We balanced that with how well they did the job at hand regardless of other details, and even with the gentle curve of an injury-depleted roster applied, several players came up wanting.

Let’s take a look at how they did.

WATCH: Jayson Tatum puts up 40 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists in Game 4 loss to Nets

Tatum might not have been able to carry Boston to a win on his own, but he certainly tried.

With three of their best five players out in Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker and Robert Williams III, it was probably never in the cards for the Boston Celtics to win Game 4 of their first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, but that did not stop All-NBA small forward Jayson Tatum from trying anyway.

The St. Louis native put up 40 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and 2 blocks in the 141-126 loss, shooting a very efficient 10-of-22 overall, 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and 17-of-17 from the line in 40 minutes of floor time.

While it’s no substitute for a playoff win, Celtics fans can take some solace that Tatum seems to have unlocked an ability to get to the line at will, and can get the ball to others consistently when doubled.

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We’ll have to wait until next season to see these new skills in action with a team that can truly support him in the postseason — in the meantime, enjoy this highlight video put together by YouTuber Tomasz Kordylewski.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Celtics can’t keep up with nets without Kemba Walker, Timelord; fall 141 – 126

The Nets were simply too much for a depleted Celtics to handle.

The Boston Celtics have fallen to within a game of elimination and a 3 – 1 deficit in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs after losing to a more focused Brooklyn Nets 141 – 126 Sunday evening.

Despite the near-capacity crowd, the Nets were able to assert their elite offensive game on a banged-up Celtics roster with little functional resistance. Boston keenly felt the absence of both Robert Williams III and Kemba Walker joining All-Star wing Jaylen Brown on the injury list, and little in the way of answers for the Nets on either end without the pair.

While the Celtics would lead by as much as 9 points early, things began to unravel late in the first quarter, and Brooklyn fended off every attempt of Boston to regain some footing.

The Celtics were led by 40 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists from All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum, 16 points and 9 assists from veteran guard Marcus Smart, and 16 points from shooting guard Evan Fournier.

The series now returns to Brooklyn on Tuesday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, with a potential loss spelling the end of Boston’s 2020-21 NBA season.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Postgame video showed Kyrie Irving stomping on the Boston Celtics midcourt logo after the Nets big win

The bad blood between Kyrie Irving and the Celtics continues.

Game 4 between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets was quite a high-scoring affair, but postgame was where the real fireworks began. After the Nets put the Celtics on the brink of elimination with a 141-126 victory in Boston, Kyrie Irving made his presence known.

Postgame video showed the former Celtics point guard stepping on the Boston logo at midcourt, seemingly wiping his shoe on the logo as he congratulated his teammates after the game.

The bad blood between Irving and his former team (and their fans) has been well documented since he left Boston in free agency in 2019 to join Brooklyn, but his latest incident will add even more fuel to that fire.

This incident also preceded the one that happened just moments later, where a Celtics fan was arrested and banned for life after tossing a water bottle at Irving and his Nets teammates as they were exiting the court.

Irving posted 39 points and 11 rebounds in Game 4 for the Nets as Brooklyn took a 3-1 series hold over Boston.

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