Eastern Conference Finals: Milwaukee Bucks vs Toronto Raptors

[homer]

Game 1: Wed, May 15, Toronto at Milwaukee, 8:30 ET, TNT

Game 2: Fri, May 17, Toronto at Milwaukee, 8:30 ET, TNT

Game 3: Sun, May 19, Milwaukee at Toronto, 7 ET, TNT

Game 4: Tue, May 21, Milwaukee at Toronto, 8:30 ET, TNT

*Game 5: Thu, May 23, Toronto at Milwaukee, 8:30 ET, TNT

*Game 6: Sat, May 25, Milwaukee at Toronto, 8:30 ET, TNT

*Game 7: Mon, May 27, Toronto at Milwaukee, 8:30 ET, TNT

 

* – If Necessary

[pitchleague]

So . . . let me get this straight. The first round of the playoffs takes over two weeks, with 2-3 days off in-between games. But . . . . the conference FINALS has a schedule with only 1 day of in-between games.

 

Yeah, that makes sense.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

So . . . let me get this straight. The first round of the playoffs takes over two weeks, with 2-3 days off in-between games. But . . . . the conference FINALS has a schedule with only 1 day of in-between games.

 

Yeah, that makes sense.

 

Less teams means less games. All about TV.

[Outlander]

So . . . let me get this straight. The first round of the playoffs takes over two weeks, with 2-3 days off in-between games. But . . . . the conference FINALS has a schedule with only 1 day of in-between games.

 

Yeah, that makes sense.

Those early round games take too long to complete but it is great now, get a conference finals game every day from May 14th until they both are over.

[coolhandluke121]

Surprised Toronto had so much trouble, but I guess Philly benefits more from shorter playoff rotations than any team in the league except the Warriors. Glad the Sixers are out, not because I thought they were a bigger threat but just because I felt they didn't deserve to be there.

 

I'm pretty confident in the Bucks but they can't afford a mulligan like they got against Boston. Toronto is a completely different animal, whereas Boston was more hype than substance.

[tmwiese55]

I'm very confident in winning this series as long as Giannis is healthy. Probably more confident than I was a month ago in a matchup vs Tor. Just feel stronger after watching these games we're the clearly better team. Still, I have to be rational that they should get at least 2 wins and make it a series. Tor has been the 2nd best team and were consistent all year. Trying to value that over my eye test. Still, with HCA the Bucks should win this and hopefully they don't need 7 games.

[homer]

Toronto played 7 guys the other day. Given the shorter turnaround on these games I think the Bucks can really wear them down. I expect close games and then Bucks pulling away late in most cases.

[coolhandluke121]

Toronto played 7 guys the other day. Given the shorter turnaround on these games I think the Bucks can really wear them down. I expect close games and then Bucks pulling away late in most cases.

 

That's basically what the Bucks did all year. Lost count of how many times they took over a game in the 3rd. Gotta keep in mind that it was a pretty good Philly team making Toronto look bad at times though. Ibaka tends to be really good against the Bucks, kind of like Horford. Too many bigs who can shoot can be a problem.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

They were the 2nd best team in the East all year, that said, personally I thought they were a better matchup for the Bucks than Philly or Boston going in. Now, not sure they're a better matchup than Boston, but I did not like the Sixers-Bucks matchup. If you watched those Bucks-Sixers regular season games, they really gave the Bucks fits. Embiid was a nice Giannis neutralizer for them, not that he stopped Giannis at all, but he was capable of the same monster games. I think Giannis had a career high in the game we lost.

 

The firepower of Philly's 1-5 concerned me. I just don't think Toronto has enough offense to keep pace with the Bucks. They'll probably take one of the first two again but I think it's Bucks in 6. I think the Raptors have to run at absolute max to beat the Bucks, and I just don't think they can do that 4 times. I don't think anybody can but Golden State.

[FVBrewerFan]

Whoever guards Green better be standing on top of his shoes in the corner and not leave to help on defense no matter what. Kawhi will get his, and that's fine, make him work for it. What you don't want is Green knocking down 5 or 6 corner 3s.

[lcbj68c]

Whoever guards Green better be standing on top of his shoes in the corner and not leave to help on defense no matter what. Kawhi will get his, and that's fine, make him work for it. What you don't want is Green knocking down 5 or 6 corner 3s.

 

That's been my take all year, but this team just doesn't have any desire to defend the 3's unless by defense you mean, "running out there after them with a hand up 2 seconds after the shot has left the shooter's hand. I don't know if they hate defending it or if it's strictly a game plan thing. When the Bucks lose however, this is typically why they lose. Some team gets hot from beyond the arc. Can a team do that 4 times over 7 games? I suppose.

[coolhandluke121]

It's a combination of game plan and personnel. In other words, they're using the best possible game plan for their personnel. Other than Bledsoe, they don't have great closing speed to contest 3's, so there's no point running around like a chicken with your head off trying to do something you can't. That was the Kidd defense, lol. Plus you gotta leave Lopez in the paint, even against opposing bigs who can shoot.

 

They're doing the right thing by limiting points in the paint without fouling. It's a trade off that they're winning. And I saw somewhere that they give up a lot of 3's, but not to the opponents' best shooters. So they're adjusting as needed, instead of being dogmatically attached to a philosophy. That's the real greatness of the Bucks. They can play any style and would be great in any era.

 

Worth noting that it's been very rare that everyone has been this healthy. Niko only played 14 regular season games and Hill only played 47. Brogdon was out for a long time. Giannis had his rest days too. It's actually kind of scary how good they could be.

[homer]

Whoever guards Green better be standing on top of his shoes in the corner and not leave to help on defense no matter what. Kawhi will get his, and that's fine, make him work for it. What you don't want is Green knocking down 5 or 6 corner 3s.

 

Bucks were top 10 in the league at preventing corner three attempts. Toronto was fourth worst. Sterling Brown step on up!

[stalton]

Wednesday can't get here soon enough! I'm glad the schedule pacing is quicker too.

[PinaMadness]

Glad it's Toronto instead of Philly. Now we don't have to worry about the NBA fixing the series for the large market again.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Don't think markets really matter anymore in the NBA. The superstars do. If the league is fixing anything they probably want the international appeal of Giannis in the finals to groom the next generation of fans for a must-see superstar. Pitting him against the evil GSW empire is probably best for them.

[KCBrewerfan34]

I have tickets (lowers) for tonight.

 

 

Text Mike at ***-***-****

 

Edit: CWH - Since the game is past, I thought I'd delete your number so its not floating around on the internet.

[pacopete4]

I have tickets (lowers) for tonight.

 

 

Text Mike at ***-***-****

 

[RobDeer 45]

Nervously awaiting this game tonight. This team feels special. Hope they get off to a good start and win game one.

[bigjase]

Excited to be there in person tonight. Any suggestions on parking? I assume there are random lots within walking distance?

[OldSchoolSnapper]

With weather this nice parking is pretty easy to get free if you don't mind a hike. There is a good amount of free angle parking on whatever street I don't remember that's probably less than a mile away.

[brooks_quichenick]

Excited to be there in person tonight. Any suggestions on parking? I assume there are random lots within walking distance?

 

If it were me I’d be doing street parking east of Water St and walking across the bridge vs paying exorbitant parking lot fees nearby

[brwrsfan]

There are also lots of bars in the area that have shuttles. I usually ride one of those.

 

This feels like a big one tonight....can't come out flat like they did against Boston. Be really nice to get the series off on the right foot with a win. As others have said, I know it's not how the Bucks typically defend, but I hope that whover is on Green sticks to him and doesn't help. He can't do much else but Green can kill us from the three point line.

 

I feel good about the series, but feel like game 1 is highly important. Toronto could have a bit of a down game coming off an emotional high from game 7 (Portland did). We can hope so at least.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I don't think Game 1 is all that important. I think the exact same thing could happen again and then Bucks rail off 4 or 4/5.

 

I fully expect it to be 1-1 after these two anyway. When the teams are even close to evenly matched the first two are usually all about adjustments. It's get harder to hide flaws after that and that's where the real separation happens. I'll still feel confident in the series if the Bucks get smacked around tonight.

[coolhandluke121]

The potential for a Bledsoe-Lowry yips-fest is an underrated story line here. Whoever yips less might be the x-factor in taking his team to the finals. Bledsoe has been better this year, but Lowry was basically a smarter Bledsoe with a 3-point shot for the previous 4-5 years.