The Bucks were on the wrong side of a performance for the ages on Tuesday night, watching Kevin Durant carry the Nets to a 3-2 series lead thanks to 49 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists.
After watching Durant torch their defense for a full 48 minutes in a crucial game five, there wasn’t much for Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks to say after the 114-108 loss, except that it’s clear they are going up against one of the best to ever do it.
“He’s obviously one of the best scorers to ever play the game,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s tough. He’s the best player in the world right now. We have to beat him as a team. We have to guard him as a team.
We have to make him make tough shots, like tonight.”
Even the absence of a fellow superstar in Kyrie Irving and the limited capacity of another thanks to James Harden’s hamstring injury isn’t slowing Durant down. He led Brooklyn back from a double-digit deficit and held off the Bucks with multiple big-time shots down the stretch, including a 3-pointer in the final minute to give the Nets a four-point lead.
“There’s gonna be nights where he does what he did tonight and score 50, and there’s gonna be nights that we contain him as much as possible and give ourselves a chance to be in the game,” Antetokounmpo said. “But one guy can’t guard him. Two guys can’t guard him. We have to be able to do it as a team.”
Milwaukee didn’t show Durant a load of double teams on Tuesday night, but many of his shots were tightly contested, though it didn’t matter. Durant shot 69.6 percent from the floor and hit four of his nine 3-point attempts to become the fourth player in NBA history to play a full 48 minutes and lead his playoff team in points, rebounds and assists, per ESPN Stats and Info.
“We have to keep guarding him together, keep showing help, keep making it tough and picking him up full court,” Antetokounmpo said. “And there’s going to be times in the game where coach says to double team him…but at the end of the day, he’s done an unbelievable job. He’s the best player in the world and the best scorer in the world.”
Antetokounmpo and the Bucks likely won’t be able to stop Durant, but they’ll have to slow him down in game six if they want to keep their season alive.
“We just have to keep doing our job and hopefully he’s going to miss,” Antetokounmpo said.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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