Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from Game 5 closeout win vs. Celtics

1. One team showed up, the other didn’t

What makes the NBA playoffs special in comparison to many other major league sports is that rather than it being just one game, it’s a best-of-seven series. In those potential seven games, we see legacies solidified or tarnished at the hands of more than basketball ability being tested.

The playoffs test things you can’t grade on a scale — heart, determination, will and most importantly, confidence. When the Milwaukee Bucks came out in Game 1 and were essentially ran off their home court, it seemed like they were at a crossroads.

Option A involved the Bucks laying down to the team that bounced them out of the Eastern Conference playoffs the year before, or they could fight back and prove why they were the No. 1 seed and a 60-win team.

The Bucks hit back by choosing Option B, and they hit back hard, taking Game 5 with a whopping 25-point closeout victory. After losing the series opener by 22, the Milwaukee Bucks responded by winning four straight games (including two at the TD Garden), by an average of 16 points.

So much for the Celtics being the answer to the Golden State Warriors dynasty.

In all seriousness, the Milwaukee Bucks have arrived in dominant fashion, putting an exclamation point next to what has been a dominant playoff run so far.