Giannis Antetokounmpo had 40 points and 13 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Brooklyn Nets 115-111 in a thrilling game-seven overtime on Saturday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
The best-of-seven series has featured almost everything, including epic scoring performances, aggressive fouls, rim-rattling dunks, series-ending injuries, and of course Saturday's winner-take-all game seven which turned into a see-saw affair with dozens of lead changes throughout.
The only thing missing was an overtime which Kevin Durant set the stage for in game seven when he drained a turnaround jump shot at the buzzer in regulation to level the score at 109 all in front of a crowd of 16,200 at Barclays Center arena in New York.
Antetokounmpo shot 15-of-24 and had five assists in 50 minutes of playing time in the head-to-head matchup with Durant.
"I want to be great," Antetokounmpo said. "We had to give everything. We know we were going to be tired at the end of the game."
Durant finished with 48 points, nine rebounds and six assists but missed two jumpers in the final minute of overtime that could have tied the score and possibly forced a second extra session.
"We got looks, we just didn't knock them down," said Durant.
The Bucks will advance to the Eastern Conference finals where they will play either the Atlanta Hawks or the Philadelphia 76ers, who face off in another game seven on Sunday.
Khris Middleton tallied 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, who became the first road team to win a game in the series.