Milwaukee Bucks Go Down Fighting, Literally
By Peter Myhrer
The Milwaukee Bucks won two straight playoff elimination games to force a Game 6 against the Chicago Bulls. Those two wins turned what seemed like a typical Bucks’ playoff series into something worthwhile. That promising series turnaround was a microcosm for the 2014-15 Bucks.
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They surprised the Bulls with admirable tenacity, much like they surprised the entire NBA by winning half of their regular-season games.
Unfortunately, the Milwaukee Bucks’ 120-66 Game 6 loss on Thursday was also very representative of their season. It was a painful reminder that Milwaukee isn’t ready just yet.
There have been a number of these wake-up calls over the course of the season, but this was by far the worst. Not only did the Bucks fail to score 70 points, but no one on the team even scored in double figures.
The #Bucks become just the 2nd team in the shot clock era to have zero players reach double figures in scoring
— Adnan Virk (@adnansvirk) May 1, 2015
Yes, that says the SHOT CLOCK ERA. The one that dates back to 1954.
Zaza Pachulia was the team’s leading scorer, which is rarely indicative of a victory, but Pachulia leading the team in scoring with EIGHT points is just a death wish.
Despite the poor performance by the hometown team, the game was actually fairly remarkable. The memorable parts were only loosely related to the sport of basketball though.
As someone who attended the game, I bought a ticket to watch a playoff basketball game. Not surprisingly though given the chippiness of the series, the BMO Harris Bradley Center ended up being the venue for a 12-round bout.
The Bulls won the first round of the fight when Mike Dunleavy did this to Michael Carter-Williams on the Bucks’ second offensive possession.
Carter-Williams had to head to the locker room and have his teeth looked at, but he returned to the game in true
hockey
basketball fashion with 1:42 remaining in the period.
MCW said the dentist had to put a few of his teeth back into place last night. He suffered a few chipped teeth from the blow from Dunleavy.
— Andrew Gruman (@AndrewGruman) May 1, 2015
This is when Giannis Antetokounmpo got dragged into Dunleavy’s house of pain. Whether Antetokounmpo noticed the original cheap shot on his teammate or not, he became well aware of Mike Dunleavy’s cheap shots when the Bulls’ small forward unleashed one on him.
Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t have to wait long to return the love though. The Bulls took that rebound and quickly transitioned into instant offense, with Derrick Rose finding Dunleavy for an open three. Dunleavy’s shot went in, but Giannis didn’t let him admire it for very long.
At the same time that the NFL Draft was being held, Antetokounmpo made his best case for a team to draft him as their linebacker of the future.
Giannis was subsequently ejected from the contest when the refs reviewed the play and determined it to be a flagrant 2. It wasn’t a surprise to see him play his final minutes of the season on Thursday, but no one expected his season to be over in the second quarter.
Antetokounmpo has since expressed regret over the incident and plans on formally apologizing to Mike Dunleavy.
Giannis said he plans to apologize to Dunleavy. "My intention was to stop but I have no brakes. That's why I get the charges all the time."
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) May 1, 2015
After Giannis’ ejection, both teams went back to their respective corners of the ring for halftime. Unlike the game, which the Bucks were losing 65-33, the fight wasn’t over.
As was expected by … well everyone that understands how sports work, Michael Carter-Williams retaliated against Dunleavy.
In a weird play that resulted in an offensive foul on Mike Dunleavy and a technical on him, Carter-Williams’ frustrations boiled over with this blow to the head and shove.
That play was the final incident (that I know of) of the game. Maybe it was because everyone got their opportunity to retaliate, or maybe it was because Jason Kidd put in his backups for much of the fourth quarter, but it probably had more to do with Mike Dunleavy not playing in the final period of the game.
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Behind the Buck Pass
Dunleavy didn’t receive a flagrant foul or a technical the entire game despite the two cheap shots above that would qualify for flagrant 2’s. The referees failed to catch the plays, but the great part about television and the Internet is that fans did catch the incidents.
Bucks fans and NBA personalities have helped the above Vines to circulate Twitter and it will be interesting to see if the league hands down a suspension for Mike Dunleavy in the next few days.
The Bulls will start their second-round series against the Cavs on Monday and the loss of Dunleavy would be significant. Cleveland is dealing with their own suspension as J.R. Smith was caught taking a similar cheap shot in the Cavs series against the Celtics.
The Milwaukee Bucks let their tempers get the best of them in the series finale, but that’s what young teams do. The Bucks will now go into their offseason with a bad taste in their mouth and I’m excited to see how it will motivate them.
Even though they lost the series, the team will enter next season with playoff experience, and hopefully they’ll remember how losing Game 6 at home felt to make sure it never happens again.
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