CUE THE DAMN MUSIC!
One of the great troubadours of this or any generation! ‘We vibe supreme virtuosity, a supernatural, unflappable command of stealth/power/strength, this whole wide world believes in us, shout, I LOVE MY MILWAUKEE BUCKS!’ Eddie freaking J.
THAT was a lot of fun! Tip of the cap to Coach Bud for making the, ‘let’s make all of the shots that we missed in Game 1,’ adjustment. Smart!
And I have to admit, when that injury report came out, and Giannis was listed as ‘OUT,’ I got nervous. I know I said on the air yesterday morning that they would win with or without Giannis, but I didn’t truly believe that. I said that because I thought there was no way Giannis wasn’t going to play. A few hours after the morning show ended he got upgraded from ‘doubtful’ to ‘questionable’ and I figured we were off and running!
But at about 5pm he was officially ruled out, and I started to play out some bad scenarios in my head. ‘What if the Heat shoot 60% again??’ ‘What if the Bucks can’t hit water from a boat for a second game?’ ‘If the Heat take Game 2, can we win two games in Miami??’ ‘Did we really just spend 7 months watching the best team in the NBA only to have the season end because Zombie Kevin Love fouled Giannis 5 minutes into the first playoff game of the season?’ ‘If they lose the series will I finally publish my blog that correctly explains why Back the Future III is the best movie in the franchise?’ It got dark.
Happily, we don’t have to worry about any of that today! We talked all season about how this is the deepest Bucks team in this era of Bucks basketball. Last night they proved it. Bobby set the tone early with his energy and (barely) contained rage. They pounded the ball inside to Brook Lopez and the Heat had zero answers. Once that was established the role players let it RAIN from distance. Jrue was hitting, Khris was hitting, Grayson, Joe, and PLAYOFF PAT made an appearance. I was wondering if he might get some run with all of the injuries this team has sustained. He was such an integral part of that 2021 run, but this season he’s been a mess. He’s been hurt a lot, and when he’s been on the floor he just hasn’t looked right. Well last night he hopped into the Hot Tub Time Machine. 22 points, 6/10 from distance, and a bunch of hustle plays that this team needed.
The Bucks set a franchise record for points in a half in the playoff game (81), and tied the NBA record for 3’s made in a playoff game (25). The Heat still shot the ball fairly well, but a lot of those makes came in the 4th quarter when the Bucks were in prevent trying to drain the clock.
Now, just like Game 1 was just one game, so too was Game 2. Groundbreaking analysis, I know. But the Bucks didn’t win the series last night and we have a long way to go. I feel WAY better about their fortunes in this round after last night’s showing, blowing a team out without Giannis will do that for you. But they still have a ton of work to do. Have to get one in Miami, which won’t be easy. We’ll see if Giannis can give it a go on Saturday. Until then, Bucks in 6, for the culture.
PS: NBA playoff szn means we get the NBA on TNT almost every night. There isn’t a better show on TV:
