Boston to go crazy: he is in the final in the East. Milwaukee leaves Giannis alone and abdicates

The reign of the Milwaukee Bucks is over. The champions leave the throne in game-7 in Boston, overwhelmed 109-81 by the team strength of the Celtics, capable of exposing all the limits of a team that leaves its phenomenon Giannis Antetokounmpo too alone. Inevitable to pay duty after the departure of Khris Middleton in the first round against Chicago, especially with Boston exhausting Giannis and tearing apart the dream of the Bucks with defense, triple and the match of the life of Grant Williams (27 points with 7 triple). The Celtics are credited with challenging Miami in the final in the East which starts on Tuesday at the Heat house: they have grown over the course of the series, showing that the 4-0 with which they demolished Brooklyn was not accidental but the consequence of a team that has everything to Aim high. The Bucks remains the what if, what would have happened if Middleton hadn’t been hurt. Also because Giannis (25 points, 20 rebounds and 9 assists), with only Jrue Holiday in support (21 points and 8 assists), was about to perform a miracle.

promoted

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It is Ime Udoka, in the TV interview between the third and fourth period, to reveal the secret of the Celtics. “Our team does not depend on a single player”. It is the biggest difference between Boston and Milwaukee: Tatum can stop for fouls (he was 4 with 7’44 “from the third siren), but coach Udoka always finds someone to level up. Like Grant Williams: he was excellent in defense on Giannis throughout the series, on the most important stage of his career he also added the triples that tore the champions to pieces. But Boston is not just a single: Tatum (23 points and 8 assists) for the whole first half held up the confrontation with Antetokounmpo, who at first seemed irrepressible; Jaylen Brown (19 points and 8 rebounds) leveled up in time for the decisive escape in the third quarter; Marcus Smart (11 points and 10 assists) has put in that indispensable dose of defense, malice, talent and cunning that makes him the irreplaceable soul of this team. This is how Boston drove TD Garden crazy, gradually reducing Giannis’ impact on the game, turning what was supposed to be a transitional season into a wonderful dream. With all the ingredients to make it come true.

rejected

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Milwaukee abdicates because she has no longer been able to hide her biggest flaw: Giannis’ loneliness. The Bucks wasted the match point in Game-6 at home, but in the match, with the exception of Holiday, they once again let Antetokounmpo make all the difference in the world. Except that after 4 games at 40 points on average, the Greek took off like a rocket and fell at a distance, exhausted by the defense of the Celtics and by the awareness that the fate of the champions depended on him. The desperate attempts to involve the teammates soon became in vain, the irresistible but physically expensive thrusts to the iron turned into less deadly shots from the average. And the Bucks went down, despite Holiday (who remains one of the most underrated NBA stars) in the second half tried to play as a phenomenon in attack as well as defense. In the decisive game Milwaukee paid the horrible 4/33 from three, the inability to defend on the perimeter (22 triples per target for the Celtics), a chronic defect of the whole season, and the drop in defense that it was unable to contain. the multi-headed monster the Boston attack turned into. Coach Bud remains a group that will fight for the title again next year, but this postseason must point the way to improvement. True that Middleton’s injury changed everything, but adjustments will be needed to get to the bottom again.

race-7

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Giannis is irrepressible in the first quarter (there is his hand on 24 of the 26 Bucks points) and brings Milwaukee to +10, but Boston reacts in the second with defense (Bucks kept at 7/21) and triples (9 to target) and ends the first half ahead 48-43, with an open set of 14-6. The three-pointers still make the difference at the start of the second half, when the Celtics run away at 68-55 with Williams 6’18 ”from the third siren. Milwaukee is in trouble because Giannis falls and his teammates do not support him, Boston extends up to 76-60 that Williams usually hits from outside with 2’12 “to play in the third quarter. The last period begins with the Celtics ahead 79-64: when at 9’06 from the end Tatum from the line brings the advantage to 20 points (88-68), the match goes definitively in the archive. Like the kingdom of Milwaukee on the NBA. The Boston dream, on the other hand, continues.
Boston: G. Williams 27 (3/4 of two, 7/18 of three), Tatum 23, Brown 19. Rebounds: Horford 10. Assists: Smart 10.
Milwaukee: G. Antetokounmpo 25 (9/22, ¼, 4/6 tl), Holiday 21, Lopez 15. Rebounds: G. Antetokounmpo 20. Assist: G. Antetokounmpo 9.