Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. NBA Playoff Basketball is going on!
The Miami Heat have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Erik S. Lesser/EPA-EFE.)
It honestly felt inevitable. The Milwaukee Bucks were going to go into Game 5 without their franchise player Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Miami Heat weren’t going to let this one go and make it interesting for the #1 seed.
Earlier, it felt like it was going to be. The Bucks led, 28-15, in the first quarter. But that Goran Dragic jumper to beat the first quarter buzz was a sign of things to come.
The lead was erased within three and a half minutes of the second period. While the game remained close, the Bucks never regained the lead. And there was a stretch of six and a half minutes of game time in the third where Milwaukee didn’t score a single point. It was pitiful.
Whenever the Bucks would try a comeback, it was always countered by the Heat. That was a recurring theme throuhgout the series. And the Heat always had someone different to punch back. Bam Adebayo threw it down a couple of times. Tyler Herro would make a dazzling pass or a big-time shot. Goran Dragic was steady with his jumpers. Andre Iguodala played like a Warrior. Kelly Olynyk came through with some buckets. And Jimmy Butler lived at the line. Balanced scoring from the Heat overwhelmed the Bucks, who simply didn’t have enough to compensate for the loss of their MVP.
Now the Heat move on to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2014. They’ve looked the best in the playoffs thus far. They now await the winner of either the defending champion Toronto Raptors or the Boston Celtics, who are looking to make their third ECF in the last four years.
As for the Bucks? They have been admirable throughout this time. They were the first to initiate the protest in sports. One of the agreements in the bubble is to show the world that black lives matter. So when cowardly police shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Bucks had to make a stand and make a statement. This shouldn’t even be discussed anymore but as human beings, we have a lot of work to do to make sure society is in a good place. Police shouldn’t be killing black people (or anybody, for that matter, but they always shoot black people). Black people shouldn’t be treated as “less than.” The Milwaukee Bucks were willing to sacrifice everything just to get that message across. And they should be lauded for that.
Unfortunately, they didn’t win the NBA championship. But if society moves forward because of what the Bucks did then that should be a victory in itself. And it should be a victory for all of us.
Bullet Passes
So now we’re going to hear endless speculation about what Giannis is going to do next even though his contract doesn’t end after next season. Even if Giannis refutes everything (and he has), the talks are not going to stop. After all, we’re human beings. We like to gossip. Until an action has been definitively been done (i.e. Giannis signs whether it’s with Milwaukee or another team), it’ll be a black hole of speculation.
Hell, people still talk when Damian Lillard says he wants to play his entire career in Portland. Every year that doesn’t end with a championship with Lillard gets people’s gums flapping.
It’s what we do. We talk.
I laugh at the Playoff Rondo nickname for Rajon Rondo. I mean, Rondo had good playoff years with Boston. Then he got the nick after a fantastic 2012 run (which included a stunning 44-8-10 game against Miami). But after that, he only came close to that playoff run in 2018 with the Pelicans.
Granted, he has been good since he entered the bubble. But Playoff Rondo talk went into overdrive when he went for 21 points and 9 assists in the Lakers’ win over the Rockets.
It’s almost like the nickname is mocking him in a way. But that nick is not as atrocious as the self-given Playoff P.
There hasn’t been much “slander” (by the way, I REALLY REALLY hate it when fans pretty much bully players or anyone really on social media) on Kyle Kuzma. It’s because he’s really taken into his role as a cutter, defensive stopper, and the #3 or #4 scoring option. And earlier in the year, Laker fans made him out to be a borderline G-League player. Shut up.
Billy Donovan‘s contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder has expired and he is free to look for another gig. What does this mean for the Thunder? Who knows? They were supposed to rebuild this year but Chris Paul wasn’t about to let anything rebuild while he was there. It’s going to be an interesting crossroads for this franchise.
NBA Playoff Scoreboard
Game 5: #1 MIL 94 vs #5 MIA 103 (MIA wins series, 4-1)
Game 3: #1 LAL 112 vs #4 HOU 102 (LAL leads series, 2-1)
Watch This Play
There were some nice dunks on Tuesday night but I really preferred the Tyler Herro no-look pass because ya know…
THIS PASS 👀#TYLERTUESDAY pic.twitter.com/FK0uUQLDEN
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) September 9, 2020
Please take care, everyone.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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