The Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics have played four games of their second-round series thus far, and it has been absolutely enthralling. Through four games the series is tied at two-a-piece, and this series has definitely been the most talked about in the NBA world up until this point of the playoffs. Did I believe this series would be as tight as it is? Absolutely! Did I think that the Bucks would have such a hard time with Boston’s defense? Absolutely not.
At the moment, the Bucks are without preferred second scoring option Khris Middleton, which means Giannis is doing more than his usual duty of heavy lifting for the Bucks. Don’t get me wrong, Giannis is doing amazing even without Middleton, statistically, he’s putting up higher point totals. Middleton, though, is such an essential part of the team, and right now, the players who we’re supposed to step up in his absence just aren’t doing a good enough job.
Take Jrue Holiday for example, who is an amazing player, but his scoring inefficiency during Middleton’s absence is sinking the Bucks in the later stages of the game. Even Grayson Allen comes to mind, who is supposed to be the spark plug this team needs in the second half but has failed to get much going recently. Don’t get it twisted, both these players are playing well, it’s just they need to play better, they need to step up their game to another level if the Bucks are going to get by this sweltering Boston defense.
Giannis has looked like Zeus out there on the court in this series, but he can’t do it all by himself, and he needs his guys to step up and help him out. That’s the only way this Bucks team gets through to the next series. Even Bobby Portis, who was huge in their first-round series, has underperformed in this series and needs a huge game tonight to get this team back on track.
All the Bucks need to do is tighten up their scoring efficiency and this series is in the bag. It’s not like anybody in Boston is putting up insane, efficient, numbers. Sure, Al Horford had a huge game four, but will he duplicate that in the next two games to close out the series? I don’t think so. Even Jayson Tatum, who’s Boston’s best player, hasn’t been OUTSTANDING, in this series, but he has scored when it counts most; in the final quarter.
Middleton’s absence has brought to light what the Bucks lack in their rotation with him out of the lineup; clutch, late-game scoring. Middleton has the ability to close out the game with just a few key buckets, and right now, no one on the Bucks, save for Giannis to a certain degree, has the ability to do that. If the Bucks want to get out of this series alive, they will have to start learning how to do that.
Who do you think will win this series? Let me know in the comments below!