No second-round matchup had more advance billing than the Nets-Bucks series that featured the NBA’s two highest-scoring offenses.

So far, it’s been no contest.

The Nets have been every bit as potent as advertised in building a 2-0 lead. But the struggling Bucks posted their lowest point total of the season in a 125-86 Game 2 loss Monday night in New York.

The Bucks’ chances of making this a competitive series depend on whether they can return home and regain the form they showed before these last couple of games.

“I think they have a great track record and history of playing well and responding,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Wednesday. “We talked about how your character is tested.”

These Bucks certainly have a great track record in the regular season. They posted the league’s best regular-season record in 2018-19 and 2019-20 before finishing third in the Eastern Conference this season.

But they’re staring at the likelihood of a second straight second-round playoff exit unless they turn things around quickly.

Game 3 is Thursday in Milwaukee.

“This is going to be a really tough game,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “We’ll see the best Milwaukee has in Game 3. We’ve got to be prepared for that and be ready to come out of the gates really strong.”

The second-seeded Nets entered the playoffs with a reputation as an offensive juggernaut and with question marks on their defense. But the Nets have spent the first two games of this series shutting down the third-seeded Bucks’ high-powered offense.

The Bucks were the first team since the 1984-85 Nuggets to finish a regular season averaging at least 120 points per game, but their offense has looked like a shell of itself in this series. The Nets’ switching on defense has thrown the Bucks out of sync.

“They’ve had great intensity the first two games,” Bucks forward P.J. Tucker said of the Nets. “I think they’ve kind of been all over the place, all over the floor, on offense and defense. I think they just had a little more of an edge than we’ve had.”

One thing the Bucks have going for them — although it made little difference in the first two games of the series — is the continued absence of Nets star James Harden.

Harden will miss Game 3 because of the right hamstring injury that forced him out of the series opener and kept him out of Game 2.

Harden left 43 seconds into Game 1 with tightness in his hamstring. He missed 20 of 21 games late in the season due to the issue.

Nash said Harden is progressing and he was optimistic for the All-Star guard’s return, but gave no timetable for that.

Nets forward Jeff Green also will miss at least one more game with a left plantar fascia strain. He was been out since Game 3 of the first round.

Hawks lose Hunter: De’Andre Hunter will miss the rest of the playoffs because of a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee, the Hawks announced Wednesday.

Hunter, the fifth-seeded Hawks’ top perimeter defender, experienced some mild swelling in his right knee prior to Game 1 against the top-seeded 76ers in their East semifinal, and he underwent an MRI that revealed a small tear of the lateral meniscus.

He’s scheduled to travel to Los Angeles this weekend and have surgery Tuesday.

Hunter averaged 15.0 points and 4.8 rebounds during the regular season.

The series is tied 1-1. Game 3 is Friday in Atlanta.

Mitchell rallies Jazz: Donovan Mitchell scored 45 points to lead the Jazz to a 112-109 victory over the visiting Clippers in Game 1 of their West semifinal opener Tuesday.

Mitchell did most of his work in the second half, scoring 32 points to rally the top-seeded Jazz from a double-digit deficit. Jordan Clarkson and Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 18 points apiece. Mitchell and Clarkson combined for 12 3-pointers.

Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points and Paul George chipped in 20 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Clippers.

Game 2 is Friday in Salt Lake City.