The second round of the eastern conference playoffs commenced with the Nets and the Bucks facing off. Both these teams are powerhouses in the East. The Milwaukee Bucks led by Giannis Antetokounmpo finished the regular season with the third seed. The Brooklyn Nets finished winning the second seed and home-court advantage in this series. The winner of this series moves onto the Eastern Conference Finals.
Game 1 was close with the Nets winning it 115-107. Kevin Durant had 29 PTS, 10 RBD, 3 AST. Kyrie Irving– 25 PTS, 8 AST, 5 RBD. Giannis- 34 PTS 11 RBD 4 AST.
James Harden reaggravated his hamstring injury within the first minute of the game and was sidelined for the rest of the 47 minutes. Despite not having their third superstar on the floor the Brooklyn Nets cruised to a smooth victory. The pivotal reasons that led to the Milwaukee Bucks losing game 1 are given below.
What went wrong for the Bucks?
- Bad shooting night- The Bucks had a bad shooting night as they were dominated by the Nets in terms of offensive scoring. The Bucks as a team shot only 5 of 29 from the 3 point line. This is a game low for this team this postseason. The Bucks are not expected to have such a low shooting night in game 2
- Bucks in foul trouble- Pivotal defensive role players on the Bucks picked up early fouls at the beginning of this game. PJ Tucker was given the task of guarding Kevin Durant and was forced to sit out pivotal stretches of the game due to foul. trouble. This allowed the Nets to pick up momentum in the second half of the game
- More turnovers fewer assists- The Milwaukee Bucks were sloppy with the basketball and ended the game with 13 team turnovers. They also had fewer team assists than the Brooklyn Nets with the Bucks having 18 assists to the Nets 25.
- Blake Griffin went off- The rivalry between the Greek Freak and Blake Griffin goes back to his time with the pistons. The Bucks dominated the Pistons in those series as their pistons were undermanned. Blake had a monster double-double 18 PTS 14 RBD. This was an unexpected problem that the Bucks did not expect in game 1
- Nets drawing charges on Giannis– The Brooklyn Nets defended the Greek Freak by drawing charging fouls each time he gathered momentum and went to the rim. This also caused Giannis to lose force towards the end of the game. The repeated collision into the Nets’ bodies forced him to have a quieter second half.
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Hope for Milwaukee Bucks fans
The Nets have taken game 1 and have momentum moving into game 2. The Bucks are unlikely to have as bad a shooting night as they did in game 1. They will rely on the Greek Freak as more of a playmaker down the stretch. This is because he shot 2 of the 5 three-pointers his team made today. Giannis developing the jump shot makes him an absolute nightmare to guard.
Especially for an offense-oriented team like the Brooklyn Nets. The Bucks are facing a daunting task and are yet to prove that they are up for the challenge. If they make plays around Giannis, the only player the nets have no answer to, it is possible for them to make this a competitive series.
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