THESE MIGHTY BUCKS ARE IN THE EAST FINAL
East’s top seed seals fourth straight win in second round, advance to East finals for the first time since 2001
GIANNIS Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks found another gear after their first loss of the playoffs.
Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics just couldn’t keep up.
Antetokounmpo had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and the Bucks routed the Celtics 116-91 on Wednesday night to advance to the Eastern Conference final.
After sweeping Detroit in the first round, top-seeded Milwaukee struggled in Game 1 against Boston and lost 112-90 in one of its worst offensive performances of the season. But Antetokounmpo led the way as the Bucks responded with four straight wins by a combined 65 points.
“I think our mindset changed,” Antetokounmpo said. “In the first game, we weren’t focused enough. We weren’t ourselves. The next four games, we came out with a different approach, a different mindset.”
The Bucks used a balanced attack to close out the Celtics in Game 5, placing seven players in double figures. Khris Middleton had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Eric Bledsoe finished with 18 points.
Next up for the Bucks is the winner of the Philadelphia-Toronto series. The Raptors are up 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Thursday night.
It’s the first Eastern Conference final for Milwaukee since 2001.
“At the end of the day, we realize we’ve never been there before,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’re really hungry to achieve our goals. That’s all we care about. As long as we play hard, we really don’t care about what anybody has to say.”
Prior to the clinching win, several Bucks took turns speaking to the team.
“Giannis’ speech was, ‘A lot of us probably came from nothing and we have the opportunity to write our own story right now.’ That’s what everybody did,” George Hill said.
The Celtics clamped down on Antetokounmpo for most of the game, but Middleton, Bledsoe, Hill and Nikola Mirotic picked up the scoring to help rob the game of any drama in the final minutes.
Hill finished with 16 points, and Mirotic had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Malcolm Brogdon also had 10 points in his return to the lineup after being sidelined by plantar fasciitis.
“Everybody was ready to play,” Hill said. “Everybody was ready for the opportunity to put them away as quick as we can.”
Irving scored 15 points for Boston, which shot 31.2 percent from the field. Jayson Tatum and Marcus Morris each had 14.
“Not what we expected,” Boston center Al Horford said. “Just disappointing for us. At the end of the day, really, you have to give Milwaukee credit. They’re just a better team than us. That’s a reality.” /