The Milwaukee Bucks have forced game 7 against the Celtics – thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo. Can he break the law of the series with another brilliant performance?
“The Milwaukee Bucks have by far the best player in the series” – this argument was reason enough for many fans to bet on the Bucks as favourites against the Boston Celtics military hospital before the series.
That the Greek Freak can decide a game more or less on his own and lives up to his name when he moves with the speed and the steps of a gazelle towards the opponent’s basket, he proved again in game 6 times. Several times the momentum of the game threatened to tip towards the Celtics, but then Antetokounmpo just started to go it alone again and put the lid on the game with 12 points in the last 12 minutes.
The best player in the series naturally enjoys the full attention of Brad Stevens and his numerous noble defenders. “Defending Antetokounmpo is no job for a man – we will throw everything we have at him,” Stevens explained before the show and promised not too much. Boston were the best defenders in the league during the Regular Season and know how to put pressure on someone like Giannis in their all-switching system without allowing too many simple options for their teammates.
These defensive qualities and the fact that the Bucks behind the triple line are among the most harmless teams in the league often ensure that Giannis stands in front of a Celtics wall and has to exploit every nuance of his talent to prevail. With 26.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.5 assist, the 23-year-old Greek dominates the series – yet he was criticised when he went too deep in game 5.
bearing
minutes
punctilios
field throwing quota
assistants
rebounds
turnovers
1
46
35
11/21
7
13
4
2
43
30
13/17
8
9
3
27
19
8/13
6
5
40
12/20
41
16
5/10
10
31
13/23
14
0
During his defeat in game 5, Giannis only took 10 field goal attempts and remained unexpectedly pale with 16 points. “I’ll take it on my head,” he commented after the game, but explained that his passivity was actually just an attempt to play “in the right way.
What the Celtics allow against Antetokounmpo with kiss hand is every form of a jump throw. Giannis has worked meticulously over the last few years and months to keep him from being perhaps the best player in the league. However, the hard work has so far only borne limited fruit: 33.3 percent of his jumps met Antetokounmpo during the regular season – a sobering statistic that every coach in the league is aware of before the matchup with the Bucks.
In the playoffs so far his rate of 45.5 percent actually looks promising, but he still doesn’t really feel comfortable with this kind of litters. “I had a lot of open throws in game 5 – but they weren’t my throws,” Antetokounmpo justified his lack of aggressiveness, but added directly that he would be much more aggressive in game 6.
The promise was followed by action. After only two drives and a throwing attempt from the transition to game 5, he showed himself much more self-confident and fearless in front of a home audience. Giannis will probably have a similar attitude in the all-important game 7 in Boston. However, the last two weeks have proven once again that an absolute brilliant performance of Antetokounmpo is not necessarily related to a Bucks success.
Bucks fans would probably like to claim that Giannis doesn’t get enough support when defending their star – but at least one teammate plays at an outstanding level.
Khris Middleton is currently probably playing the best ball of his career. The fact that the 26-year-old Swingman shows not only his qualities as a defender and ball distributor but also strong approaches as a scorer could already be seen during the regular season – however, Middleton played in the first six games with a consistency that has never been seen before. In fact, the Bucks with Antetokounmpo and Middleton have by far the best two players in terms of field throwing odds among all players who have taken at least 90 throws out of the field in the playoffs so far.
“Khris plays great,” Antetokoumpo said and said, “It’s great to have someone playing a strong series next to you.” Jaylen Brown, who defended Middleton during the show, simply praised: “He’s a killer.”
“How can this combination of the two not be enough against offensively strongly limited and decimated Celtics” – Bucks fans rightly ask themselves. The answer is very simple: apart from the two Bucks top scorers, there has been little sporty consistency and, ultimately, quality to report.
Jabari Parker sulked in the meantime because of his too small role, Eric Bledsoe fought a small war against Terry Rozier, the Point Guards Brogdon and Dellavedova just came back from injuries, Jason Terry is 40 years old and Tony Snell is in a deep throwhole. This was joined by dubious tactics and uncertainty on the part of interim coach Joe Prunty.
During the first games, there was a complete lack of understanding in the world of NBA experts as to why Prunty did not rely more often on the obvious best lineup of the Bucks – namely Antetokounmpo (on the five) with four shooters around him. Giannis of course can’t play every minute as a centre, so John Henson, Thon Maker and Tyler Zeller were also needed – but all of those mentioned got too much time, especially in the decisive phases of the games.
Maker is an exception, as he proved in games 3 and 4 that he can be valuable as a shooter and floor-stretcher – but what is certain is that the Bucks’ crunchtime lineup should consist of Bledsoe, Middleton, Antetokounmpo and a combination of the players Parker, Brogdon, Dellavedova and Snell.
In simple terms, the signs are not particularly good for the Bucks. The home team has always won the six games in the series so far. Historically, Boston will also be victorious in the second round. Game 7 will be the 127th in the history of the league – so far the visiting team has only won 25 times.
Only Giannis will be able to correct these statistics on behalf of the Bucks in favour of the guest teams.