NBA Playoffs 2021: By The Numbers - Bucks edge Nets in overtime Game 7 thriller for the ages

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Yash Matange
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Overtime. A 40-point duel. 20 lead changes. 10 ties. 

The Nets-Bucks Game 7 was a game for the ages. An instant classic, it was the perfect end to a highly-anticipated series that was entertaining, to say the least. 

The 'winner-take-all' contest, played out at Barclays Center, joined the all-time Game 7s list not just with the experience it provided but also with the numbers.

Here's an in-depth look at all the records that this Game 7 of the Nets-Bucks series broke/set:

7: Number of Overtime Game 7s ever

In the 74 plus years of the NBA, there have been 142 Game 7s (at least till the Conference Semifinals of the 2021 postseason). 

That's around two every playoffs but this Nets-Bucks will go down as one of the best Game 7s ever because it needed overtime, making it only the seventh Game 7 ever to have needed an extra session to determine the winner.

Fair to say, overtimes in Game 7s are rare. This one was the first in 15 years.

Back in 2006, the Mavericks rode that Game 7 overtime victory to make their first-ever NBA Finals. Will the Bucks do the same and use this Game 7 victory to make it back to the Finals for the first time since 1974?

1: Number of Bucks' Game 7 wins on the road

This is a huge win for the Milwaukee franchise, not just for what's at stake and their current trajectory but also their recent history.

Coming into this contest, the Bucks held a 2-8 record through 10 previous Game 7s and were 0-7 on the road. 

Having been on the wrong side of a 2-0 series comeback in the 2019 Conference Finals, being on the right side this time around would mean a huge deal especially to the players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, who were on the 2019 roster.

48: KD's tally most ever in Game 7

This game had nearly every player tiring and yet Durant dropped 48, a new scoring record for a Game 7.

Playing every second for the second time in three games, the former two-time Finals MVP nearly clinched it for the Nets in regulation when he nailed a clutch jumper over PJ Tucker with just one second left. However, with his toes grazing the 3-point line, the shot forced overtime with the scores tied at 109. 

In the low-scoring extra session, Durant went 0-of-6 from the field including the final airball but still finished the game with an NBA record points tally to go along with his nine rebounds and six assists.

Despite the loss, it's been an unbelievable season from Durant just two years after one of the most devastating injuries in sports.

He averaged 26.9 points on shooting splits of 53.7 percent shooting from the field, 45.0 percent from beyond the arc and 88.2 percent from the free-throw line. In the playoffs, he averaged 34.3 points on shooting splits of 51.4 percent shooting from the field, 40.2 percent from beyond the arc and 87.1 percent from the charity stripe.

Not to mention, posting the first-ever 40-15-10 stat line in league postseason history. Having played his fifth Game 7, Durant is now the fifth player ever to record at least four 30-point performances in Game 7s. 

3: Number of 40-pt duels in Game 7

There's nothing like two All-NBA talents going at it in a 'winner-take-all' game. Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo provided just that and then some. 

Both scored at least 40 points, making it only the third instance ever of two players on opposing teams scoring 40 or more in a Game 7. 

Their combined 48 points in the second-most combined by opposing players, falling only two points short of 90 combined by Sam Jones (47, Boston Celtics) and Oscar Robertson (43, Cincinnati Royals) in 1963.

5: Number of players to record 40-10 in Game 7s

Durant might have outscored on his All-Star counterpart in Antetokounmpo but the 'Greek Freak' had a monster game in his own right. 

Finishing with 40 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, the Bucks' two-time league MVP became only the fifth player in postseason history, joining Tim Duncan (2006), Charles Barkley (1993), Jerry West (1969) & Elgin Baylor (1962), to record at least 40 points and 10 rebounds.

More importantly, with the season on the line, Antetokounmpo came up huge in two consecutive games. Through Games 6 and 7, he averaged 35.0 points, 15.0 rebounds and four assists while shooting a combined 27-of-44 from the field.

9: Number of bench points combined

Of the six reserves, from both teams, to take the floor in this game, only Pat Connaughton troubled the scorers.

His nine points were the only points from either bench. For Brooklyn, seven minutes from Landry Shamet and 13 from Jeff Green were scoreless scoreless. That's the first time since 1971 that the starters have been responsible for all of the team's points in a Game 7.

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Yash Matange Photo
Yash Matange

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