The Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks engaged in a memorable instant classic on Saturday night in a Game 7 of the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. To get to that point, the two teams already had memorable performances, none more so than Kevin Durant’s Game 5 in which he scored 49 points with 17 rebounds and 10 assists while playing all 48 minutes in a win.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton responded together in Game 6 in Milwaukee with a combined 68 points, setting the stage for Saturday’s Game 7 back in Brooklyn with the NBA world watching. Naturally, the two teams lived up to the billing with a back-and-forth contest that went all the way to the wire.
With the game and season on the line, Kevin Durant had one of the biggest shots of his career, forcing overtime with a turnaround jumper on the 3-point line with one second remaining.
With the near entirety of the NBA world – fans, media and players alike – tuning in, the reactions were both widespread and in awe of Durant’s moment, including from Pelicans Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and Wes Iwundu.
Overtime between the two was rather anticlimactic, a byproduct of the two teams playing with short benches and nearly every player on the court looking exhausted. Incredibly, the Bucks hung on in the extra session to win on the road in a Game 7, but only after a nearly identical attempt from Durant that would have sent the game to a second overtime.