NEW YORK • Do not get carried away, that was the message Kevin Durant had for the Brooklyn Nets as they clinched their largest play-off win in franchise history on Monday with a 125-86 beatdown of the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of their National Basketball Association (NBA) semi-final series.
The forward, who led the team with 32 points and six assists, said he did not want to settle for anything less than a championship, but warned that it is not the time to think about that just yet.
"We've still got a long way to go," he said. "When we play hard together, good things happen.
"For the most part we just did what we were supposed to do, win two at home and we've got to see if this game is going to travel on the road for us and we've got to stay locked in."
Kyrie Irving finished with 22 points and four threes, while Joe Harris and Bruce Brown each scored 13 for the Nets, who seized a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series.
"We're capable of greatness every night," Irving said.
The series now switches to Milwaukee for Game 3 tomorrow.
The Nets were missing James Harden with a hamstring injury, but it is a situation they have become accustomed to all season long.
A string of injuries has limited the time that Durant, Irving and Harden have been able to suit up in the same game, and they played just eight games together during the regular season.
But once they got over the initial shock of Harden getting hurt in the first minute of Game 1, the Nets have not looked back in winning both games at home in style.
Brooklyn led by as many as 49 points on Monday. Their 39-point win is their largest play-off victory ever and the biggest since beating the Golden State Warriors in a regular-season game by 41 points, 129-88, in February last year.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to just 18 points, but he still managed a triple-double by adding 11 rebounds and 10 assists for the Bucks, who have fallen behind 2-0 in a second-round play-off series for the second straight season.
Milwaukee lost the first three games to Miami before being eliminated in five games during the second round last season.
"I don't get too high, I don't get too low. After the Miami series, we were up 4-0, and coming to this series, I wasn't high. Now that we're down 2-0, I'm not low," Antetokounmpo said.
Elsewhere, Chris Paul finished with 21 points and 11 assists to power the second-seeded Phoenix Suns to a 122-105 win over the Denver Nuggets in the opening game of their second-round series.
Game 2 is today in Phoenix.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
