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After a long regular season, the Bucks are right back where they started - in Boston vs. the Celtics.
The Milwaukee Bucks have experienced plenty of twists and turns throughout the season.
There have been injuries and recoveries, a couple of trades, the firing of head coach Jason Kidd leading to a promotion of Joe Prunty, a dunk where Giannis Antetokounmpo literally leaped over another human being, the unexpected return of Brandon Jennings and more as the Bucks wound through the 2017-’18 campaign.
Somehow, after 88 games, it’s become clear that the long and winding road of the season has actually just been a massive loop, bringing the Bucks right back to where they started.
The season began on the court of Boston’s TD Garden with a game against the Celtics on Oct. 18, 2017. Whether the season ends there or takes the team on a path untrod since 2001 will be decided at 7 p.m. Saturday night when the Bucks take on the Celtics one final time in a winner-take-all Game 7 to conclude their first-round playoff series.
“It’s going to be crazy,” Bucks swingman Khris Middleton said. “It’s do or die at this point. The crowd in Boston is rowdy, just like they are here. It’s going to be a great game. There are no secrets between teams; it comes down to who has more will.”
The Bucks are searching for their first-ever win in a Game 7 on the road, a game Milwaukee squads of yesteryear have lost six times in as many tries. Milwaukee also is hoping to secure its first trip to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.
That contest in Boston back in October represents a ray of hope amid the otherwise gloomy stats that surround the Bucks ahead of this Game 7.
While things were certainly different on that October Wednesday — Kyrie Irving was on the court for the Celtics, Greg Monroe was wearing a dark shade of green, Jabari Parker was still rehabbing his left knee, Eric Bledsoe remained languishing in Phoenix and Kidd was roaming the sidelines for the Bucks while Prunty sat beside him — that game still marks the only time either team has won on the other’s usual home court this season.
The Bucks claimed victory on that night, 108-100, led by 37 points by Antetokounmpo, signaling the beginning of his surge toward becoming a top-5 MVP candidate. Eight days later, the Celtics claimed a victory in Milwaukee, but it came at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, not at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Since then, each team has won four times on its home floor, including three times each in the playoffs to set up Game 7.
“These guys have been great,” Prunty said. “They’ve been locked in. They’ve been focused. I know they’ll be excited and ready to go. I think the important thing for us is the preparation going into the game. We know what we need to do.”
In terms of the things they must do, the Bucks recognize the need to limit turnovers, secure rebounds, hustle for 50-50 balls, move the ball, make tough shots and run the Celtics off the threepoint line.
In order to pull the upset and win in Boston, they’ll also likely need another superstar-level performance from Antetokounmpo. He did just that on Thursday night in Milwaukee, putting the team on his back with 31 points and 14 rebounds in their 97-86 victory in Game 6.
“That’s what he’s here for,” Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “He’s one of the best in the world, so we rely on him night in and night out. He’s going to come through in the big games.”
For his part, Antetokounmpo doesn’t care how exactly a win comes about, he just wants to make sure it happens. He wants to get to his spots for shots, sure, but he’s also more than willing to pass and create opportunities for his teammates and trusts them to make the most of those chances.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Antetokounmpo said. “That’s what we lacked a little bit at the beginning of the season, but that’s what it’s all about right now. We’re trusting one another, we’re being disciplined right now and that’s what it’s going to take for us to be a better team.”
No matter the outcome of Saturday’s game, there will be an element of finality for the Bucks. Obviously, if they lose, their season will end, kicking off a critical summer for the franchise before it moves into a new arena.
But if the Bucks win, they’ll close the book on their 17-year streak of seasons that have ended with watching the second round of the playoffs from home. They’ll also end the string of six straight losses in Game 7’s on the road and become the first team in franchise history to come back to win a series after digging into an 0-2 hole.
As meaningful as it was for the Bucks to win Game 6 in front of their home crowd after disappointing finishes in 2015 and 2017, Antetokounmpo knows the organization and the city are ready for more.
“This city has supported this team from Day 1,” Antetokounmpo said. “As much as we want to say we play for the team, we play for the city, too. …
“We’ve got to go out there and leave everything on the line and try to get Game 7.”