For weeks, Giannis Antetokounmpo had put pressure on his leaders to find him a superstar. He had it with Damian Lillard. For weeks, he put pressure on his new coach, and his managers went to get Doc Rivers. And ultimately, it was Giannis himself who was lacking in the home stretch.
The fault lies with an injury to his left calf, which caused him to miss the last three regular season matches, and the entire series against the Pacers. Before Game 6, he had prepared physically on the field, but he never received the green light from the doctors, unlike Damian Lillard.
Absent at the worst time of the season
“Honestly, I haven’t talked to him much because I know he’s angry,” reports Khris Middleton. “I've been there before… You're itching to play, you're fighting to come back, you're fighting with the medical staff to tell you that you're fine, but they're slowing you down a little. I could see the frustration on his face. I know how much he wanted it, how much he wanted to be on the field, how much he wanted to be the great player that he is and prove to the whole world what a great player he remains. I know he has a lot on his mind right now, even just the frustration of not being available at this time of year. »
Present on the bench, Giannis will have played the “cheerleader” throughout the series, and without him, the Bucks were dominated on offensive rebounds or on quick plays. His 2m11 was lacking at all levels, and his absence forced Doc Rivers to strip down his bench to start Bobby Portis. Even if some teammates refused to talk about it, for Danilo Gallinari, the absence of the “Greek Freak” is the number 1 reason for this elimination.
Game plans change without him
“Of course it’s the key!” With Giannis, the match changes, the series changes… And then Dame wasn’t 100%” recalls the Italian. “When you lose two major players, it’s obviously different. But the most important thing is to arrive in good health in the playoffs. It wasn't the case and we lost. »
For Malik Beasleyperhaps Game 7 would have allowed his teammate to be there… “All we wanted to do was win this game to get back to Milwaukee, and hope Giannis could be there. This didn’t happen…” For AJ Green, who was experiencing his first playoffs, it is simply the law of basketball. “He’s one of the best players in the championship, and we tried to compensate. But with him on the field, the teams' game plans completely change. It’s hard, but basketball is like that sometimes…”
