Milwaukee Bucks are already in the semifinals of the Eastern Conference, where the Miami Heat awaits them. The Wisconsin team finished the job last night against some Orlando Magic fighters whom they defeated 118-104 to put the final 4-1 in the series.
The Bucks, even with what happened in recent days in mind – they forced the NBA into a hiatus by refusing to play on Wednesday in protest of racial injustice – showed they were ready for battle by completing a great group performance that was led once again by Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek went up to 28 points and 17 rebounds while Khris Middleton – already at his usual level – accompanied him with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.
“You could feel the closeness between everyone. We continue to be on the court taking care of our objective and what we want to achieve, but I think that having gone through all this has united us even more ”, says Brook Lopez, author of 16 points and 7 rebounds, about the days that the competition has been standing after the shooting of Jacob Blake.
Milwaukee won, but as has happened in the rest of the series, Orlando did not make it easy for them. Using triples, the Magic were able to play a 21-point deficit early in the second half to just three (96-93) into the fourth quarter. The rebellion ended there. Mike Budenholzer put his starters back on track and the Bucks immediately took off on the scoreboard.
As has been the custom in the tie, the best of the Florida franchise was Nikola Vucevic. The Montenegrin center went to 22 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists to put the close to a great performance in the playoffs. Along with him stood out the 18 points of Evan Fournier and the 15 that DJ Augustin contributed from the bench.
“They are a team formed to be champions. We held on because we stayed focused at all times and we knew how to take advantage of our opportunities, ”says Orlando coach Steve Clifford, while Vucevic understands that they have made a lot of progress this year. “This year we have taken a step forward. I know we still lost 4-1, but the performance was much better, “he explains.
Now miami
Many are looking forward to seeing the Bucks against the Heat, and no wonder. Milwaukee is the Eastern Conference favorite on its own merits, but Miami, by sweeping the Indiana Pacers, has earned the right to at least be given a legitimate chance. The Florida team has a talented and efficient group of players under the leadership of a natural competitor like Jimmy Butler. Can they stop The Greek Freak? By the way, this is the first time that Wisconsin reached the conference semifinals in consecutive seasons since 1986-87.
(Photograph by Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
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