The matchup everyone’s been waiting for is finally set for Saturday night.
The Milwaukee Bucks will head to Brooklyn to begin the series against the second-seeded Nets. Tip off is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be heard on WKTY 96.7 FM / 580 AM.
It will be the first time the Brooklyn’s “Big 3” — Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving — play together against Milwaukee this season.
The Bucks are 2-1 against the Nets. Irving didn’t play in the Brooklyn win back on Jan. 18 (125-123).
Harden didn’t play either of the Bucks’ wins, which came on back-to-back games May 2 (117-114) and May 4 (125-118).
Against Brooklyn this season, Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging a ridiculous 39.7 points.
The 26-year-old shot an average 15-for-31 from the field (48.9%), including 3.3 3-pointers a game at a 38.5% clip in those three games. On top of that, he averaged 10.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.3 blocks/steals and just 2.3 turnovers over 37.7 minutes.
It’s hard to imagine Antetokounmpo shooting 8.7 3-pointers per game, like he did this season against the Nets, let alone hitting that kind of percentage.
In those back-to-back games, Antetokounmpo went 4-for-12 the first game and 4 of 8 from deep in the second. It was that game that he scored 48 points on 21-of-36 shooting. Again, the Bucks won by just three.
That’s the game where Durant put up 42 points, nailing seven 3-pointers.
Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton’s numbers are also off the charts against Brooklyn — both averaging over 20 points and 50% shooting — in those three games, which may say more about the Nets’ lack of defense than the offensive prowess of the Bucks “Big 3.”
Kevin Durant is the only one of the Nets’ “Big 3” to play the Bucks. His numbers, too, are ridiculous, but that’s pretty much the 32-year-old’s norm when he is in the lineup.
Durant averaged 31.8 points on 52% shooting, including 2.9 3-pointers a game at 41.7% in the three games against Milwaukee. He also had 8.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.3 blocks/steals and 3.8 turnovers a game.
TOP PHOTO: FILE – Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, middle, drives to the basket between Brooklyn Nets’ Jeff Green, left, and Kevin Durant, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, May 4, 2021, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)