Brooklyn hammers Milwaukee to take 2-0 series lead

Brooklyn embarrassed Milwaukee on Monday night with a dominating 125-86 win to take a 2-0 lead in its best-of-seven series.

The Bucks trailed by 17 points at the end of the first quarter, 24 points at the half and 30 going into the final period. The Nets were up as many as 44 in the fourth quarter.

Milwaukee had zero answer for Kevin Durant, who scored 32 points on just 18 shots. Kyrie Irving added 22 points, including going 4-for-8 on 3-pointers. He was far from the only one shooting well from deep, as the Nets shot 50% from beyond the arc.

The Bucks boasted the top scoring offense in the regular but have looked lost for much of the first two games of the series. They scored just 60 points in the first three quarters and their 86 points were the fewest in a game this season. Milwaukee has especially struggled from beyond the arc, shooting only 25% (14-for-56) in the series.

Khris Middleton missed his first eight shots of the game, finishing 7-for-20 on his way to scoring 17 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points and 11 rebounds, but was 0-for-3 from deep and 2-for-7 from the free throw line.

The 39-point loss was Milwaukee’s worst in the postseason since losing by 54 to Chicago in Game 5 of the 2015 playoffs. It came despite the Nets missing James Harden, who was unable to play due to a hamstring injury.

Game 3 of this series will come Thursday night at Fiserv Forum.