Welp. Remember a few days ago when we were talking about how great last weekend was for sports in the state, and I prefaced it with, ‘are we headed to inevitable heartbreak?’ Jon, you dumb bitch.
So you have to examine Game 4 through a few different lenses:
#1) Even before the Giannis injury in the 3rd quarter, the effort we saw last night in the first half was PATHETIC. It is incomprehensible to me that a cast of characters that went through what they went through in the ECF in 2019, STILL didn’t learn a lesson about never taking a night off in the playoffs. This is (was) this franchise’s best chance to make the Finals in 35 years. It all lined up for them. They were the healthiest team left, they caught breaks on the path to where they are now by seeing key players on other teams go down, they somehow got home court in the ECF as a 3 seed. And then, an hour before tip last night, Trae Young was ruled out. The best player on the team you’re playing, ruled out before a make-or-break game. And yet, the Bucks come out and play some of the most uninspired I think I’ve ever seen. Chuck said after the game on TNT that they played like it was Game 53 in the middle of February. YUP. PJ Tucker in his postgame basically admitted that they came out thinking they were just ‘going to win.’ I will never understand that.
#2) I thought they did come out better in the 3rd quarter, and played with more fire than we saw in the first 24 minutes. And then, Giannis goes down trying to defend an alley-oop to Clint Capela. Watching him grasp at his knee, writhing on the ground for 2 minutes, I had the same feeling I felt the last two times Aaron Rodgers went down and didn’t get up. Crushed. Absolutely crushed. At that point you knew the team wasn’t going to respond the way you wanted them to, the Hawks went on a quick 15-2 run, and the series is even heading back to Milwaukee.
So now we wait on the Giannis news. I am not a doctor, but I am married to one, and the initial diagnosis I heard in my household was not great. Obviously we’re hoping against hope that this is just a hyperextension, and not a tear that will not only cost him the rest of this postseason, but likely most of next year.
Regardless of what the official ruling is, it’s hard to think he will play tomorrow night, or in Game 6 on Saturday. Even if it is *JUST* a hyperextension, he’s going to be down for a bit. I would think best case scenario for Bucks fans is that there is no structural damage, and maybe he could be back for the Finals at some point, if you can make it that far without him. But barring some kind of Reggie White-esque healing powers, it’s impossible to believe he will play any minutes tomorrow night.
Can this Bucks team beat this Atlanta team without Giannis? Sure can. They’re still the more talented team, even if Trae Young is back tomorrow night. But they’re going to need a MAJOR shift in tone from the team’s leaders in the next 24 hours. If they curl up and die the way they did last night, their season will end on Saturday. If they can use this injury as fuel, the same way Atlanta did last night, I think they win Games 5 and 7 at home. The Giannis injury is devastating, but it’s still a tied series, best of 3, and the Bucks have the homecourt.
PS: I don’t want to post this, I don’t WANT to post this, but I saw it, and now you have to as well. It is remarkable what this state’s teams have done in the past 10 years. Why do we do this to ourselves?
