For Milwaukee as for Detroit, Tuesday's game was a small final to continue advancing in the NBA Cup. The Pistons also saw this meeting against the Bucks as an important step in their reconstruction, an opportunity to play a match with something at stake. Except that opposite, the Milwaukee team is used to these heights and therefore knows how to negotiate them.
“I loved the way we approached the match,” rejoices Doc Rivers. “Both teams took this match seriously. We were really involved. It was perhaps our best defensive performance of the season. The movement of the ball was incredible, we found the players and we played team basketball. »
The Pistons are not yet able to breathe at this altitude while the Bucks have the wind at their backs at the moment, in addition to their playoff experience, so with a 14-0 in the second quarter and a second half solid time, they made the difference.
“We’re getting closer to the team we want to be”
“We are progressing collectively. We are making progress in the right direction. We knew it was an important match for them and also for us. An opportunity to win an away match and get closer to Las Vegas. We’re getting closer to the team we want to be,” says Damian Lillard after Milwaukee's seventh straight victory. “During the shootaround, there was a lot of seriousness and concentration, without doing too much either. We knew what we had to do and it translated at the start of the meeting. »
Taurean Prince also notes the importance of collective experience in approaching this match.
“We understood the moment, the opportunity in front of us. We saw that there was experience in the locker room, guys who played in the playoffs, evolved in these situations”he said. “We showed our maturity, our calm. It also demonstrates the level we are currently at and that we are moving forward. »
The rest of the competition for Doc Rivers' men will be against the Magic next week. A success and it will be heading to Las Vegas for a semi-final against the winner of the Knicks – Hawks duel.
