Kevin Durant scored 29 points, Kyrie Irving had 25 and the two superstars carried the Brooklyn Nets after James Harden’s early injury in a 115-107 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Harden didn’t even make it through a minute before leaving with a right hamstring injury, an injury that forced him to miss two losses to the Bucks in May.

But the Nets beat Milwaukee when it mattered most without him, getting 19 points from Joe Harris and 18 points and 14 rebounds from Blake Griffin.

And they got a solid defensive effort despite giving up plenty of size, limiting the Bucks to 13 points below their NBA-leading average.

Durant grabbed 10 rebounds and Irving had eight assists, throwing some spectacular passes as the Nets moved the ball around quickly and had the Bucks a step or more behind all night.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 11 rebounds, but the Bucks were just 6 for 30 from 3-point range and lost for the first time in the playoffs after storming past Miami in a first-round sweep.

Brook Lopez scored 19 points for the Bucks and Jrue Holiday had 17 points and nine rebounds. Khris Middleton finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds but was 6 for 23, missing all five 3-pointers. AP