Barclays Center went from being up for grabs to silent and upsetting in a 15-minute span.
Kevin Durant’s 48th point of Game 7 sent Brooklyn into a frenzy, as his long two (his toe was just barely on the three-point line) sent the game to overtime. Another inch back, and the Nets move on.
But two points in overtime wasn’t cutting it.
Despite the effort, and arguably a failed season, Steve Nash gave his team a positive message after Game 7’s overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
“I just told them how proud I am of them. Unbelievable effort. Gave us everything they had. So much adversity this year. First year together, so many changes on the roster, injuries, I told the guys that they couldn’t have given us any more. To take that team without [Kyrie Irving] and James [Harden] on one leg out there… just really, really proud of the group, and I hurt for them more than anything,” Nash said.
For the second time in three games, Durant didn’t come off the floor. In Game 5’s 48 minutes, he dropped 49 points. On Saturday, he played all 53.
“Kevin’s just, I don’t know what more Kevin can do. He’s just out of this world,” Nash added.
But Durant knows his efforts are nothing without a ring that is so coveted in Brooklyn.
“We wanna win. We wanna win every game we play. We wanna win a championship every year, just like every team. So the last game of the season, to lose, but the beauty of our profession is we get up and keep going. Everybody on this team works extremely hard, they care about the game, so we’ll get ready for next year,” Durant said.
Harden said he feels “like s–t,” probably both physically and emotionally. Harden’s been hampered by a bad hamstring that surely affected him in Games 5, 6 and 7.
“Being durable and being myself, for the last so many postseasons, and just dealing with this particular hamstring, I guess it’s just frustrating. I’m frustrated,” Harden said, “We did everything we could towards the end, just frustrated, but give the Bucks credit. They fought to the end, had a hell of a series, we just came up short.”
“They know they could have won the series,” Nash added. “They also do realize deep down they gave it everything they had. It hurts bad. It hurts. It hurts bad. It hurts all of us. I hurt so much for these guys for everything that they gave us, but they also realize they gave it everything they had.”