Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 114-108 Game 5 loss to Brooklyn Nets
Well, we can add another painful Game 5 loss to recent Milwaukee Bucks history.
The Bucks fell to the Brooklyn Nets in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series that ended in a 114-108 victory in favor of Brooklyn that now puts them up 3-2 in the series as it shifts back to Milwaukee for Game 6.
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Of course, the loss comes after the Bucks had held as big of a 17-point lead early in the third quarter, to which the Nets then responded with their second half comeback to absolutely dissect and decimate the Bucks in ways that have felt too familiar over the Mike Budenholzer era.
So without further ado, let’s dive into the biggest takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks’ dreadful loss to the Brooklyn Nets in Game 5 Tuesday night.
Milwaukee Bucks fail to take advantage of a limited James Harden in Game 5 loss to Nets
The Nets got quite the boost going into Game 5 with the sudden return of James Harden, who was gradually cleared to play Tuesday night after having suffered a strained hamstring at the start of the series 10 days earlier.
Despite being cleared, it was clear that Harden was a shell of himself and was relegated to being an initiator to the Nets’ offense. Harden finished the night with five points on 1-for-10 shooting (0-for-8 from three, 3-for-3 from the foul line), eight assists, six boards and four turnovers.
While the Nets were gradually buoyed by Harden’s presence on the floor as he quarterbacked the offense, the Bucks did very little to get Harden moving or attacking him on defense as he’s essentially playing on one leg.
Bucks players routinely made misguided decisions to attack other upstanding Nets defenders such as Kevin Durant rather than Harden or the likes of Blake Griffin (outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo) or Joe Harris. And while the Bucks’ offense saw their shots fall better in Game 5 than they’ve had for much of the series so far, they did nothing to really test a less-than-100 percent Harden.
What Harden looks like moving forward into Game 6 remains to be seen, but it will be on the Bucks to really make him defend and test the Nets. But one would have thought that would have been the case going into Game 5.