Before the start of the game, the Nets had risen to the fifth place in the East with a wave of three-game winning streak, and the Bucks directly won the first place in the East with a wave of four-game winning streak, ranking second in the league in the latest official strength ranking, second only to the Lakers. Therefore, it is very likely that the two teams will meet in the final Eastern Conference finals, which makes both teams eager to win this game in order to establish a psychological advantage.
At the beginning of the game, the two teams opened fire, launched an attack on the offensive end, and the difference began to rise alternately. However, due to the lack of running-in, the Nets began to make frequent mistakes in the fierce attack, and the Bucks also seized the fleeting opportunity to establish a 6-point advantage in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Nets saw that the situation was not good and quickly opened the dual-core singles mode. Even if the bucks try their best on the defensive end, they can't stop Harden and KD from throwing the ball into the basket. This enabled the Nets not only to narrow the gap by 6 points before the half-time, but also to establish a lead of 1 point.
Easy-side battles, the Nets Harden and KD further enhanced their personal offensive firepower, and the difference was gradually pulled to double digits. Then the Bucks' outside shooters began to exert their strength and constantly narrowed the points difference. Although the Nets tried to open the score again and again, the Bucks kept biting the score. In the last quarter, the Nets have always had an advantage on the court by virtue of KD and Harden's unsolvable singles, but the Bucks have been waiting for the opportunity to successfully seize the frequent mistakes in the middle of the last quarter of the Nets and quickly fill the gap.
At the crucial moment, Harden and KD directly took over the game. The former grabbed the key frontcourt rebound, while the latter hit the three points that killed the game. With Middleton's last winning goal missing three points, the Bucks lost the "fairy war". The Nets ended the Bucks' four-game winning streak with 125- 123, and the team won the four-game winning streak strongly, further impacting the first half of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Throughout the game, the Nets can be said to have brought the absolute advantages of Harden and KD to the extreme, and also disassembled the complex tactics to the core one-on-one singles and the last quarter. Basically, KD pendulum, Harden pendulum, Harden pendulum, KD continues to swing, abruptly wiping out the heart of the first stag in the east.
After the whole game, KD played 35 minutes, 2 1 throw 10, surrendered 30 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, Harden played 4 1 minute, 25 throws 13, and scored 34 points, 6 rebounds 12 assists. Although Harden made six mistakes, they all came from the first half. In the second half, Harden handed over 23 points, 6 assists and 0 mistakes, and even grabbed the frontcourt rebounds at the crucial moment, and assisted KD to hit a three-point winner, which can be said to be great.
If Owen needs to come back quickly after Harden's amazing first game, then after this game, the Nets basically don't need Owen's return urgently. As long as KD and Harden are here, the Nets are fully capable of beating any team in the league. Instead of waiting for Owen, whose future is uncertain, the urgent task for the Nets now is to let KD and Harden complete more running-in, form a stable offensive system around their singles ability, and help other players around them integrate into the two-person singles-based offensive system.