Bucks' Playoff Run
Milwaukee, one of the smaller cities in terms of popularity with their NBA franchise, the Milwaukee Bucks; however, this is all changing with the help of their new superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. This year the Bucks are going to the playoffs for their second consecutive year, which is the third time in four years. The Bucks enter the playoffs as the 7th seed and they are faced against the Boston Celtics who have the 2nd seed in the eastern conference. So, how far can this team make it in the playoffs and can they change the trajectory of the franchise?
The Celtics enter the playoffs with a 55-27 record and the Bucks have a 44-38 record, so on paper it looks like the Celtics should take this series. However, they are without their leader in Kyrie Irving and another superstar Gordon Hayward who has sat out all year due to a season ending injury that occurred in the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the Bucks are looking at almost entirely healthy roster and are hungry after their first round exit to last year’s playoffs.
The first game of the series was taken by the Celtics in a 113-107 overtime win. This was an intense game that came down to the wire after Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks nailed a 35 foot 3 pointer as the buzzer expired to send the game into OT. Middleton and Antetokounmpo combined for 66 points, 21 rebounds, and 13 assists, but even with these two phenomenal performances it was not enough to overcome the Celtics.
So, this poses the question what else do the bucks have to do to win this series? Well, first the Bucks need more point production from the rest of their starting 5 and the bench, the next highest scorer for the bucks was Malcom Bragdon at 16 points and Eric Bledsoe with 9. Jabari Parker, former #2 overall pick in the 2015 draft only had 2 points of 1 of 5 shooting and Bucks 2nd year player Thon Maker did not play in this game at all. If the Bucks are going to win they need other players to step up and become more involved in the offense, especially Parker. Parker before his injury last year was averaging over 20 points per game and was consistently relied upon whenever Giannis is out to run the Bucks offense, so 2 points is unacceptable.
Milwaukee has a very realistic chance of winning this series as long as they have players other than Middleton and Antetokounmpo that will produce. I expect a big game from Jabari next time around and the Bucks are desperately need his offense coming off of the bench, in fact I say that the Bucks should experiment with putting Parker back in the starting lineup and bringing Tony Snell off the bench. If Jabari can come in and provide 15-20 points in the remaining games of the series, and Giannis and Khris keep playing at this level then the Bucks will advance to the second round for the first time since 2001.
Keep going strong Milwaukee #FeerTheDeer
