The Bucks missed an opportunity to end their series at home Friday night and they’ll have to regroup quickly as they head to Boston for Game 7, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Milwaukee has already won twice on the Celtics’ home floor in the series, and Giannis Antetokounmpo said he and his teammates will have a relaxed attitude heading into Sunday’s showdown.
“No matter what happens, we’re gonna leave that game and we’re going to be better,” Antetokounmpo said. “If we’re going to be the team advancing to the next round, great. I hope so. We’re gonna play hard, but if we’re not, at the end of the day, we’re gonna learn from this one. We’re gonna be better. So for me just go out and play free. Be fearless, play free, we don’t owe nobody nothing.”
There’s more from Milwaukee:
- The Bucks haven’t found an effective way to replace Khris Middleton, who has already been ruled out for Game 7 with a Grade 2 MCL sprain, Nehm states in the same story. Jevon Carter, who was signed in February, took Middleton’s spot in the rotation during the first two games against Boston and George Hill replaced him once he returned from injury in Game 3, but neither is the complete player that Middleton is. “Jevon’s been good. He’s helped us,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “So we gotta look at everything, but I think the defense and everything … I think George really helps us defensively. And Jevon can too. They’re different in how they help us defensively.”
- Budenholzer will also have to decide how much to use Grayson Allen in Game 7, Nehm adds. Allen has made some important contributions in the series, but he was a minus-29 and missed all four of his three-point shots in Game 6. Boston has been targeting him on defense and taking advantage of switches to create mismatches. “The plus-minus is a tough stat and sometimes it’s good, but Grayson is doing his best,” Budenholzer said. “He had some good looks. Just some nights they go, some nights they don’t. Sometimes you get good looks … It can flip. You make one or two of those, he feels a lot better. Less transition defense, more halfcourt defense, but as a group, we gotta be better.”
- An outdoor watch party in Milwaukee for Sunday’s game has been canceled in the wake of shooting incidents on Friday night that left 21 people wounded, according to Jim Salter of The Associated Press. The Bucks said 11,000 people attended Friday’s watch party.
More like a neighborhood watch party, amirite?
It’s a freakin shame we can’t have a watch party. Why is it unhinged and wackos always have guns. We really should bring back public executions for these folks.
This is going to be a great gm 7. Go Bucks
I agree it’s a shame but your solution isn’t really a solution lol. Maybe we can get these “wackos” the help they deserve, or better yet, maybe y’all can stop handing out guns to literally anyone like toys down there
Budenholzer has done a much better job of making adjustments throughout series since last year, and I think a pattern has actually developed with how he has done things. The first 2 games, he let’s brook lopez play 30-38 minutes, and then he slowly lowers it through each game afterwards to where he gets 17-22, and they have more lineups with Giannis or Portis at the 5. Not sure if that’s to force poor rotation decisions from opponents who think Lopez will play more, but it has worked consistently…
I wonder if Lopez should start in this series against Boston’s current lineup with Grant Williams and Horford at the 4/5. I think he should come off the bench
I disagree. In the Bucks’ losses they’ve run out of energy because he played his starters too many minutes.
Carter has played better than Hill, Bud hasn’t played him.
O ya, overall, that’s the only thing he has really done, and he hasnt utilized certain other people for sure, but I’m saying in the sense that he previously wouldn’t do a single thing.
That being said, they went back to Lopez for 37 minutes in game 7, the opposite of what I was talking about lol.
Yes, but Grant Williams was fine with Lopez in the paint! Once he found his deep stroke and solved the Bucks defense, it was all over but the shouting. Tatum’s drives were stifled but at a cost.
The Bucks looked exhausted.
Mostly peaceful.
One thing this series has taught me, is the importance of Game 1s. The Celtics came out flat in game 1 and lost. As a result the Celtics needed to best the Bucks in consecutive games. These are two evenly matched teams so winning two games in a row is problematic. By winning G1, the Bucks spared themselves of this burden. The Cs haven’t proved that they cam beat the Bucks back to back.
Game of the year so far – can the Bucks really get a 3rd road win and make the ECF?
Turns out Celtics lost gm1 but won the series.
Winning game 1 can make a team complacent and allows the other to get a handle on winning.
I guess we know the answer to the question: What are the chances of winning game 7 when shooting 12% from 3?
The Bucks bench was nowhere to be found even if we lost an all star player.