Photo via Twitter / Bucks
Fans, whatever your playoff superstitions are, change them.
There’s not much to say about Monday night’s game two of the Eastern Conference semifinals that isn’t told by reading the 125-86 final score. The Brooklyn Nets came out on fire, keeping their momentum from game one, and a lively crowd at the Barclays Center let Milwaukee know they were in trouble.
A strong first quarter saw the Nets up by 17 points at the break, and there was once again no looking back from there. Milwaukee came out cold, driving to the paint effectively at times but turning the ball over carelessly. There was a feeling that the Bucks were trying to force plays that they didn’t need to make, and paying the price for it. Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo especially struggled, with Middleton making just three of eight three-point attempts and Giannis going 2-7 from the free throw line, akin to his bout of the yips earlier in the season.
The Nets’ lead ballooned to as high as 49 points at one instance, with the Bucks’ reserves getting extended playing time to conserve the starters for game three on Thursday. Effectively throwing in the towel while the game was out of reach doesn’t look the best, especially when you see the final score, but it is a best-of-seven game series, and Milwaukee will now need to at least take things to six games to advance to the conference finals. That’s going to require a lot of improvement on both sides of the ball, and game three at home looks even more vital than it was on paper going into this series.
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Game three of the Eastern Conference semifinal series is set to tip off from Fiserv Forum on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m., airing on ESPN. Game four from Milwaukee has also been announced for Sunday at 2 p.m. on ABC. Tickets for those games are on sale now, and fans will also be encouraged to gather in the Deer District to watch the game as well. You can find out more about attending the watch parties, including safety protocols, at the Deer District website.
You can’t have “Bucks In Six” without losing two games along the way. Hopefully Milwaukee can turn things around in a big way on Thursday night.
