Did the Milwaukee Bucks win Game 3 or did the Brooklyn Nets lose it?

The Bucks are on the board. 

Milwaukee, fresh off of a colossal 39-point loss in Game 2, pulled off its first Eastern Conference semifinals win with an 86-83 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday. 

Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo led the charge for the Bucks, combining for 68 points, good for 79% of the Bucks’ offensive output – the most of any duo in playoff history. 

Middleton got things going early, scoring 15 of the Bucks' 30 points in the first quarter. Through the first two games of the series, Middleton hasn’t put up more than 15 points per game, while shooting 13-for-43 from the field – including 3-for-13 from 3 – but he turned things around in a big way in Game 3, shooting 12-for-25 for 35 points and 15 rebounds in 44 minutes.

Former back-to-back NBA MVP Antetokounmpo added 15 points of his own in the first quarter and finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds on the night.

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At one point, Milwaukee had a 21-point lead over the Nets, but the Bucks weren't able to maintain it, and the two teams were tied at 80 with 1:55 left to play. Kevin Durant hit a 3 to put the Nets up 83-80 with 1:23 to go, which was answered by none other than Middleton a few seconds later, cutting Brooklyn's lead back to one. 

The last two points of the game, however, came on a driving layup by Jrue Holiday – who shot 4-for-14 and scored a mere nine points – with 11.4 seconds left on the clock that put the Bucks up 84-83. 

A few possessions later, Durant, who had scored Brooklyn's last nine points, attempted to tie the game with a deep 3, but it bounced off and sealed the deal for Milwaukee.

The Nets struggled in Game 3 like they hadn't struggled in the first two games, shooting 36.2% on the night – but is that actually the silver lining for Brooklyn? 

In other words, did the Bucks win it or did the Nets lose it?

On Friday’s "Undisputed," Shannon Sharpe was brutally honest when asked how impressive the Bucks' performance was on a scale from 1-10, and also talked about the shockingly bad offensive display by both teams.

"Three … There’s nothing to be impressed by. … I do not believe that the Nets will play this bad throughout the rest of the playoffs. … Milwaukee, this wasn’t good to me.

"The Bucks and the Nets combined for 238 points in the regular season. They got 169 last night between the two of them. That’s 69 points less than what they normally get. That’s the biggest dip since 1972 and the second largest dip in NBA history. So, this was really an ugly game. It got to be real ugly, real fast. I did not see this game coming."

In Games 1 and 2, Durant scored 29 points on 48% shooting and 32 points on 66.7% shooting, respectively. Irving scored 25 in Game 1 on 42.3% shooting and bounced back to score 22 on 52.9% shooting in Game 2. 

But on Thursday, the duo – missing their third superstar James Harden for the third straight game – combined to connect on just 20 of 50 shot attempts, a 40% shooting clip.

Opposite Sharpe, Skip Bayless was less concerned about the Bucks and took greater issue with why Bruce Brown took the Nets' second to last shot, one that he believes cost Brooklyn the game. 

"This is for the game, this is one of those do-or-die kinda shots, and he missed it," Bayless said. "So, what happens? The Bucks go the other way with the ball, and the coaching staff is just saying ‘Go’, they’re not gonna call a timeout. Here comes Jrue Holiday, and Bruce Brown got back on him and thought he had him, and then [Holiday] spun on him and made a layup."

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One could say that Brown got a little trigger-happy at the end of Game 3. 

After scoring 12 points in the first half – including 10 in the second quarter alone – Brown went 2-for-7 in the second half, scoring four points in the final 24 minutes and missing all but one of his six fourth-quarter attempts, including a driving layup with six seconds left and the Nets trailing by one. 

However, on "First Things First," Nick Wright explained why the Nets' loss doesn't fall on Brown's shoulders. 

"This was a very interesting game for a million different reasons. I don’t blame Bruce Brown for having confidence there … [but] I don’t know why Durant didn’t get the ball. … Durant, after a rough two and a half quarters to start the game, was spectacular late. He was the only guy late who seemed to be playing with any confidence and legs.

"Kevin Durant never flashed for the ball, never went and demanded to go get it, never was a part of the play. He took himself out of it, which helped the Bucks immeasurably."

FOX Sports NBA Analyst Sarah Kustok joined Wright and the crew to discuss whether the Bucks outplayed the Nets or the Nets played themselves, putting a bow on the debate by saying that Thursday left us all with more questions than answers about the series.

"Sometimes it’s about the shot profile. Is it more on what the defense is doing, or is it about missing shots? And the fact that, between Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, they go 20-of-50 from the field, and a lot of those were clean looks. Joe Harris [was] 1-of-11 … so to think about the fact that it came down to the final possession, there is a lot that you look at.

"Did [the Bucks] raise their level of confidence, or are they relieved that they were able to walk away with the win in that fashion when they were back at home?" 

The Bucks will have the chance to prove Game 3 wasn't a fluke when they look to knot things up in Game 4 on Sunday. 

Until then, we're sure the message in Milwaukee is simple: A win is a win.

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