KEVIN Durant scored 32 points in three quarters and the Brooklyn Nets did not miss a beat without James Harden, cruising to a 125-86 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday (Sunday in Manila) in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in New York.
The second-seeded Nets lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 ahead of Game 3 on Thursday (Friday in Manila) in Milwaukee.
Brooklyn, which never trailed, led by as many as 49 points in the fourth quarter. The Nets led by double digits for the final 39:11.
In 33 minutes, Durant shot 12 of 18 from the field and posted his fourth 30-point game of the postseason. He also hit four 3-pointers, grabbed four rebounds, and handed out six assists.
Durant finished his latest productive game by going around Giannis Antetokounmpo for a reverse layup with 4.8 seconds left in the third quarter to give Brooklyn a 95-65 lead.
Kyrie Irving added 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and had six assists for the Nets, who shot 52.1 percent and set a franchise postseason record with 21 3-pointers. It marked the fourth time in their first seven postseason games the Nets shot at least 50 percent from the floor.
Antetokounmpo led the third-seeded Bucks with 18 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 8 of 15 from the floor and missed five of seven free-throw attempts. He is shooting 53.5 percent (23 of 43) from the foul line in the postseason.
In the other game, Chris Paul scored 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and contributed 11 assists and six rebounds to help the Phoenix Suns record a 122-105 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals.
Mikal Bridges scored 23 points, Devin Booker notched 21 points and eight assists and Deandre Ayton contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds for the second-seeded Suns.
Phoenix outscored Denver 59-33 over the final 19 minutes, 34 seconds.
Nikola Jokic registered 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for the third-seeded Nuggets.
Aaron Gordon scored 18 points, Michael Porter Jr. added 15 points, Facundo Campazzo tallied 14 points and JaMychal Green had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Denver.
Game 2 will be Wednesday night (Thursday in Manila), also in Phoenix.
Jae Crowder added 14 points for the Suns, who shot 54.1 percent from the field, including 13 of 34 (38.2 percent) from 3-point range.
