Milwaukee Bucks: Game 6 The Hardest Way To Lose

The Milwaukee Bucks lost Game 6 to the Toronto Raptors and were eliminated from the playoffs. The path they took was the hardest one of all.

Entering the season, the Milwaukee Bucks were not expected to make the playoffs. They won just 33 games last season, drafted a project with the 10th overall pick and saw wing Khris Middleton go down prior to the start of the season with a major hamstring tear.

But no one gave MIlwaukee the lottery memo and they battled all season to qualify for the playoffs. Giannis Antetokounmpo put together his best season yet, leading the team in every major category and making a case to be on the MVP ballot.

Middleton returned just as the Bucks lost Jabari Parker to keep the team afloat and rookies Malcolm Brogdon and Maker each performed well above expectations. Greg Monroe had a bounce-back season. Jason Terry refused to age.

Even Michael Beasley was making positive contributions.

Not only did the Bucks make the playoffs, but they got off to a roaring start, outscoring the Raptors by 35 points en route to a 2-1 series lead. If a couple of open shots go in during the final minute of Game 2, the Bucks may have been up 3-0.

Milwaukee Bucks

But Toronto battled back, winning the next two games to push the Bucks to the brink. When the Raptors opened up a 25-point lead in the third quarter of Game 6, things were all but decided. The young Bucks would be a force down the road, but this year Toronto still held the edge.

Then suddenly Toronto couldn’t hit a shot, the Bucks were everywhere forcing turnovers, and a 25-point lead dwindled to 18, to 13, to five. Milwaukee went on a 34-7 run that culminated in a Terry three-pointer with less than three minutes to go, giving the Bucks a two-point lead.

But in the year of comebacks, it was not meant to be. Toronto head coach pulled Norman Powell and inserted Cory Joseph, who proceeded to hit a three-pointer, generate a turnover and hit clutch free throws to give the Raptors the lead once more.

A controversial late dunk by Antetokounmpo when Milwaukee was down three kept the game just out of reach, and Toronto advanced in a 92-89 victory.

In October, with the team reeling from the loss of Middleton, most Milwaukee fans would have gladly accepted a competitive first-round series with one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams. Perhaps the organization would have too.

And overall the Bucks have plenty to be optimistic about moving forward.

But this loss hurt. It hurt more than a back-and-forth game that slipped away in the end. It hurt more than the pure blowout it appeared to be for most of the contest. It hurt more than giving up a late lead to the more veteran team.

All during the comeback, it felt like Milwaukee was destined to win the game. As the Raptors crumbled under the force of the Bucks’ energy and length, it felt like the end of an era.

This game was going to be the turning point in the Eastern Conference, the moment when Milwaukee took on the mantle of LeBron James‘ greatest foe.

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It was not to be. Milwaukee had every chance to win this game and force a Game 7, but squandered the opportunities. The Bucks missed nine free throws in the fourth quarter, going just 9-for-18 from the line.

Antetokounmpo played 47 minutes and reached the finish line absolutely exhausted, perhaps leading to the mental error of scoring a two when the team desperately needed a three in the closing seconds.

To go on such a run, take back a lead that felt impossibly distant, to ride the energy of a raucous home crowd desperate for the franchise to win a playoff series for the first time since 2001 and ultimately lose — that is the worst of them all, the sort of loss that will stay with these players for a long time, perhaps the rest of their lives.

In the end it’s only one game, one playoff series. Milwaukee has more young talent than anyone outside of Philadelphia, a bright front office and a true superstar.

Playoff experience is forged in the losses every bit as the victories and this Bucks team will come away better for it, more prepared to advance next year.

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Yet for today, the future is not consolation. Nothing will be. Thursday night’s loss is as painful as they come. Perhaps in the end it will be a turning point — the moment that Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks found they do not like the bitter taste of defeat.