GT: Bucks @ Nets Playoffs 2ND Round Game 2 Monday 7:30

[Papi_swav]

lol wow that was too easy ! The way we're spanking them I don't see how we lose 1 game, Celtics even put up a better fight then this. "The others" are stepping up big time. Lets stomp on their throats in game 3, end it now!

[LOUiS-D]

Stephen A said that Kobe would be ashamed of Kyrie. That right there is all you need to know about how horrible Stephen A Smith is as a person.

He's a minstrel.

He said that sh**? omfg. like he'd know. they're brothers and this clown... i just

That's fken low character.

[Born_Ready]

Stephen A thrives off a reactionary substance. Brothers like Stuart Scott would have never stood for such antics in my opinion. I used to like Stephen A, and could even tolerate his rherotic from time to time, but now he does things to get clicks and stir the pot so to speak. I can find something more substantially positive and uplifting than hear him constantly destroy a topic(s) he doesn't find favor with. Just my .02 cents worth.

Great win by the hometeam by the way. I'm still sitting here like did that really just happen?!? I know not to get too carried away because there will be adjustments made by Milwaukee for sure. I am just hopepful for a split in the next two games.

[gigantes]

Ahhhh... can't resist:

https://i.imgur.com/r68ofb7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/W7xAmNS.jpg

When cooking venison, it’s important to remember it’s a lean meat already.

Oil the meat and not the pan. Plenty of salt for a good roast.

Cool low, slow and wet. Small cuts.

If fresh after a particularly brutal slaughter, the meat will be bloody. Soak overnight in salt water or vinegar to your liking.

A good broom to clean up the kitchen afterwards.

[3pt_chucker]

That was one the best 3 quarters I've seen from any Nets team. Incredible play on both ends of the floor.

Our offense is just humming right now. The Bucks have no clue how to stop us. KD and KAI can iso anytime and get a good shot but they are playing so unselfish that we get gorgeous looks off of beautiful ball movement, passing, cutting, drive and kick plays from all parts of the floor. We are also getting crazy production from the non-stars. Harris, Mike James, Clax, Bruce Brown and Shamet has been impeccable in their roles. They have far outplayed the Bucks role AND bench players.

Then there's Blake Griffin. WTF?! He's essentially the perfect glue guy for team. He's doing a beautiful job guarding Giannis. Since he's so strong, Giannis can't outmuscle him and he has good enough smarts and lateral movement to stay in front enough to him long enough to have the help defender shade in and cover. Excellent by him. He also does all the little hustle plays that just ignites the crowd and the team. Diving for loose balls, timely offensive rebounds and everytime he dunks it just brings a diff kind of energy with it(which at this point is really hilarious). The crowd and all his teammates get so hype! You'd swear he's a novelty player like Tacko Fall. His ability and a secondary playmaker and reliable 4th/5th option able to knock down the 3 ball at a high % has been game changing.

Lastly, just want to say that KD has been sensational. Clear best player on the team. Obviously Harden is MVP level too but KD is just a slight notch above. He's been soooo good on both ends that it's kind of mind breaking. He has so many unguardable moves and shots that it must be demoralizing. Like there was a play where Jrue guarded him PERFECTLY off the dribble and KD spun and was contested by Jrue, Tucker and Middleton and it didn't matter. Swish. On the defensive end, his guarding 1-5 and it never feels like a huge mismatch. He has been incredible as a help/secondary defender and have had so many weakside blocks and deflections. He's essentially out best offensive and defensive player. Wild.

I've never seen anything like it and I'm still pinching myself that he's a Nets player.

[NetsJets]

We destroyed these dudes. Everybody played well.

[Prokorov]

What a statement win. KD let everyone know who the big swinging D*** in the room is. He RELISHED the opportunities when Giannis was on him, put him on skates, and just gave 'em buckets. That had to be demoralizing for Giannis,,, and his teammates too. If it wasnt already clear, it is now, KD is the baddest mofo in this series.

Giannis bricking threes and FTs was low-key important. its in his head. all the choking in the past. coming up short in the past. that doubt. That 50 point regular season game is irrelevant now.

My thoughts....

1) KD/Kyrie are in playoff mode. that 14-11 record together or whatever it was in the regular season was whatever. that was those 2 coasting in like first gear. You could see the extra energy and the scowls after hitting shots on Giannis. It is awesome to watch. These guys have so much playoff experience they just feast. this is a 0 pressure series for them... they've been down in NBA finals. this is a tune up for them

2) Losing Donte Divincenzo was a bigger loss for the bucks then it may seem. Brook Lopez is becoming unplayable and their ability to go small is kind of out the window with no Dante. The alternatives to lopez by going small are Forbes, Connoughton, or Thanasis Attentakoumpo. all 3 of those guys are BBQ chicken. In the 3rd Kd/Kyrie probably scored 10 straight on pick and roll pull ups vs a sagging lopez.

3) Biggest take away from this series so far, is how unbeatable we become when we dont turn it over. Regular season we played solid D and we scored at all-time efficiency but with turnovers we gave teams a ton of extra possesions... that and the rebounding. we will still get out rebounding most nights, but the turnovers are more focus... no one is going to outshoot us when the possesions are close. and without tunring it over, they will be

4) Defense has looked great. ton of effort rebounding, super high IQ, contesting threes. Claxton has been unreal. KD has been unreal. but most of all Joe Harris has stepped up on D and really competed. he was a negative on D all year, but he has been more then avg so far.

5) Mike James is key. said it in game 1, ill keep saying it. allowing KD to be a scoring SG unlocks the best version of him. Mike james allows that to happen more with harden out

6) i havent seen it talked about yet, but a key aspect of our defense is the psychological toil our offense takes on teams. Like middleton was red hot to start the second half, but it didnt matter, he hit 5 or 6 in a row, but we awnsered with three straight threes and the lead never dwindled down. Its also tough for teams to score on us when they are taking the ball out under their own basket

Hard not to get excited but like KD said "we just did what we were supposed to do". then there is the old adage "its not a series until someone wins on the road". If we lose game 3 its 2-1 with game 4 in milwaukee and them getting some confidence. So, still alot of work to do... but Milwaukee needs to win 4 of the next 5 to take this series, thats gonna be an uphill battle. taking their soul in game 3 would say a lot about this team (beyond what tonight said).

Funny how the narrative went from "Brooklyn plays trash D and Kyrie/KD are mentally weak" to "its BS nets got blake, KD is a coward who formed a superteam... blah blah"

its fun seeing the GB triggered. especially saltics/knicks fans.

[Sharcm1]

Ok wow. Not what I expected at all. I’m totally in shock. They destroyed the bucks. Like completely. In every aspect of the game. Up by 49 at some point. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. Everyone was on. Everyone moved and hit their shots and played d and hustled.

They should rest harden for this series. We clearly don’t need him right now. Rest green too. Need him for sixers (maybe). I guarantee harden doesn’t play if the nets keep playing like this.

[sashaturiaf]

Best all round performance this season. I said earlier in the season relying too much on James dribbling the air out the ball affects the ball movement and energy on D and this was the perfect team performance. I know the variance is way greater without an all time great in Harden controlling things but you can even say our ceiling goes higher since everybody is involved

- Blake - stats were just average but just amazing. Shut Giannis down with his physicality and his baskets were so momentum shifting it felt like he had 25

- BB - where would we be without Bruce Brown. Guy just brings it every game

- Joe - Duncan Robinson is better? Lol. He bodied up Jrue on D, amazing effort from a supposed 1 dimensional shooter

Clax - he is so impactful I wish Nash plays him more. No playoff jitters at all just pure dominance defensively out there. Just go up stronger with the ball young guy

- Shamet - he's growing as a player. Mentally tougher and always playing hard, proud of the effort especially since his physical deficiencies could wreck him in the playoffs. Right now he isn't a minus out there, props

- Mike James - tells you stat nerd analysis is BS. He's probably statistically inefficient but he puts pressure on the D. Another Marks gem

- 7/11 - dominant. But we knew that right ? Finals MVP level talents and they are bringing that when it matters

- Nash - better than Bud

[akhan786]

Told yall we'd be fine

You guys place to much weight on regular season. KD and Kyrie only give af in the postseason. I've been following them both since they were in high school. There's only a handful of cats out there that have that clutch postseason gene and you see it pretty early cause you either have it or you don't. This is who they are.

Harden on the flip side is perfect for those 2 because we can ride him during the regular season. His efficient 3/layup/FT game is built for a marathon.

[Sharcm1]

Harden is important in a grind it out half court game as he can get his shot and for other when ever. But this ball and man movement I don’t think happens with harden out there with KD and Irving. I hate to say it but they are playing better without him. The ball doesn’t stop moving. No dribble dribble dribble step back three bs. Durant gets it and quick to make a move. Same with kyrie.

Harden will be needed later on. Keep him healthy.

[Basileus777]

The ball movement is because the Bucks aren't switching, not because Harden is off the court. When we're getting a wide open guy every time we throw a screener at Lopez, it's not hard to move the ball around. The Celtics switching forced us into ISOs.

[Prokorov]

Brook Lopez finally helping the Nets win in the playoffs

[HardenGoat]

What a statement game and beautiful basketball. We have too much speed and talent for them to play Lopez or Portis. We need to bring this energy into game 3 and put the dagger in them. Rest Harden we need him to be 100 percent. He was masterful in the Celtics series and we can scale back some of the minutes we are putting on Kyrie and KD. Going to feel great tomorrow after this win. Awesome.

[Hello Brooklyn]

I said the Bucks were paper tigers all year. Even after they beat us twice.

I said Nets in 5.

Then after the Harden injury I got scared and thought we might lose. Silly me.

I picked this team to win the chip before we even got Harden. Hes a luxury.

KD and Kyrie are enough to win a Championship. The humiliated the Bucks tonight.

I don't know why we acted like this team was good. Giannis always chokes in the playoffs.

Middleton and Holiday are simply not good enough to be 2nd option on a Championship team.

And their bench is horrible. Bobby Portis is getting legitimate playoff minutes lol.

I have even less fear of the Hawjs/Sixers. Hoping we can get Harden back soon and cruise to the Chip.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Brook Lopez finally helping the Nets win in the playoffs

To be fair hes like one of their only role players playing well

[Hello Brooklyn]

All the bull about our defense now is looking so funny. We just held one of the best offenses in the league to 86 in a high paced game.

[Basileus777]

Brook Lopez finally helping the Nets win in the playoffs

To be fair hes like one of their only role players playing well

He's not playing well at all. He's been a nightmare on defense for them, giving up open shots left and right with his drop coverage.

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Like this happened all game long. The Bucks should have benched him, but the rest of their bigs are trash too. The Nets weren't even guarding Tucker all game long, they just left him open and crowded the paint.

[Suwanee]

We’re better without Harden? LOL. Can’t believe this is some of y’alls conclusion after witnessing what he’s capable of during the RS and 1st round.

Don’t let a perennial mentally weak playoff Bucks team fool you. SMH

[andrewww]

Boston’s switching defense forces the Nets into their lowest percentage shots (relatively speaking) which is one of the big 3 in isolation. Bucks dont switch like the Celtics do, and as a byproduct Lopez gets hunted for dropping which can only be done if you have mid range assassins like KD and Kyrie. If the Bucks go small, one of Pat/Forbes/Portis will be cooked. In other words, there will always be a mismatch if the Nets are patient and keep the game in the halfcourt.