Beaten a year ago in the conference semi-finals by the Celtics, the Bucks have failed to rectify the situation during this regular season since Boston’s big victory (140-99) allows Jayson Tatum and his team to win the “tie-breaker” (2-1) in the event of a tie at the end of the season. With five games remaining, the Bucks have two successes ahead of the Celtics, but their first place is therefore not yet assured. For Giannis Antetokounmpothis slap should serve as a lesson.
“We know what it is. It’s not hard to understand. If we’re not focused and don’t give it our all, they’re going to kick our ass.” vsnotice the Greek Freak. ” It’s as simple as that. They did it tonight. They won by 40 points. If we’re not focused, if we don’t give it our all and if we don’t make things difficult for them, they’re going to kick our ass. It’s as simple as that. »
However, Giannis assures that no one is worried at the Bucks. It was an accident, the day after an easy victory against the Pacers. The Bucks took this back-to-back lightly as the Celtics had things to prove, and to prove themselves.
“We shit each other”
“There is no level of concern, it is a fact” he continues. “Now we have it in mind and it’s up to us to see what we’re going to do with it. Are we going to play the same way? If we play the same way, we will have the same result. We have to change, we have to be competitive, we have to have pride and hopefully we will. If we can do that, we might have a chance to win. »
However, this week, the Bucks lost 23 points in Denver, and therefore 41 points against the Celtics. It was back-to-back each time, but the way was not there. “I’m not going to lie, I don’t know if it was our 5th game in seven days” replies Jrue Holiday about the Bucks’ recent schedule. “I had the impression that we were concentrated, but in fact, we shit on each other. By that, I mean we didn’t play to the best of our abilities. We didn’t play as well as we could have. »
A fatal clumsiness
For Antetokounmpo, the Bucks must be able to respond with their defense when the shots do not come in. That night, they quickly gave up.
“The attack should not have an impact on the defense” reminds Giannis. “But it’s basketball, and it happens sometimes… It’s the case, obviously, when the ball circulates and you put your shots, the team then has more energy. Don’t think about it, but it’s the reality. (…) This is no excuse for our defense not to be there. I think we should be mature enough to know that if we don’t get our shots right, we still have to be able to defend, which we didn’t do tonight. We didn’t take shots, we didn’t defend. Hopefully we can learn from this game, watch videos and improve next time we play a game or play against them. »
The next game is also a big poster since the Bucks receive Joel Embiid’s Sixers!
