The Milwaukee Bucks didn’t meet up against the Nets’ ‘Big 3’ during the regular season
The Bucks were far from the only team that didn’t get to meet against the Nets’ star-studded trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.
The Nets’ ‘Big 3’ registered 202 total minutes together during the regular season as injuries and absences affected all three of Durant, Harden and Irving. That was the case in the three games between the Bucks and the Nets as Irving missed Harden’s Nets debut in a 125-123 win over Milwaukee back on January 18 earlier this year. Harden then missed the Bucks’ pair of wins over Brooklyn last month as he recovered from a strained hamstring.
With all three now finally healthy, they’re well on their way of eclipsing the slim minutes mark they accumulated together.
Over the Nets’ series with the Celtics, Brooklyn outscored Boston by +23.1 points per 100 possessions in the 130 minutes that all three of Durant, Harden and Irving were on the floor together in the first round.
Clearly, the Bucks have never gone up against a team that has assembled this kind of offensive talent like the Nets have throughout their past playoff run in the Mike Budenholzer era. Not many have beyond Milwaukee, to be completely fair.
The many great challenges that will come the Bucks’ way in trying to defend the Nets’ leading trio will be paramount in somehow sneaking past the Nets in order to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three years.