The Milwaukee Bucks had the best regular season record in the NBA this year thanks to their fast-paced, high-scoring offense. But that was nowhere to be found in their Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
Boston held the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed to just 90 points in the series opener, which broke Milwaukee’s streak of 28 consecutive games with 100-plus points. The last time the Bucks scored less than 100 points was on February 21 against, you guessed it, the Celtics.
Milwaukee looked rather sluggish in the Game 1 loss, lacking any flow on the offensive end while failing to provide any sort of perimeter defense to throw Boston off their game. A result like this calls for adjustments heading into Game 2, right?
Wrong.
The Bucks, specifically Giannis Antetokounmpo and head coach Mike Budenholzer, said Monday that they won’t be making changes because… adjustments can be overrated?
“I think when we’re us that’s when we’re at our best,” Budenholzer told reporters in Milwaukee. “I think sometimes adjustments and all those things are actually somewhat overrated.”
This could very well be some sort of postseason smokescreen, but we’d be lying if we said this didn’t catch us by surprise.
Antetokounmpo also said they won’t be making adjustments heading into Game 2, but his main focus was on effort. The MVP candidate felt his team didn’t play hard on Sunday, which was the biggest factor in their loss.
“Definitely not,” Antetokounmpo said when asked if they’ll make any changes. “We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing all year. I think there should be no change at all. Why should there be a change after a game that we lost?”
As odd as it sounds at the surface, Budenholzer and Antetokounmpo did make some valid points. They weren’t themselves in Game 1, so why change? Just play revert to their normal selves Tuesday and all will be well, right?
Well, you don’t have to completely overhaul your game plan, but a few tweaks probably wouldn’t hurt, specifically around dealing with Al Horford.
