Listen to Game 3 of the Bucks-Magic NBA Playoffs first round series at 11:30 a.m. on 620 WTMJ; follow and chime in on the game with our WTMJ Second Screen and ESPN Milwaukee Sidecast.
It took a loss to help them get there, but the Milwaukee Bucks may be back in the proper frame of mind for playoff basketball after easily winning Game 2 of their series over the Orlando Magic.
“It’s the playoffs. You’re never out of the woods,” Fox Sports Wisconsin Bucks reporter Zora Stephenson told WTMJ’s Erik Bilstad Friday on Wisconsin’s Afternoon News. “Game 1 reminded us of that. You can never get comfortable. The goal of Game 2 was to make Orlando feel uncomfortable. Now, (the Bucks) can’t get comfortable. The players can’t get complacent, and they have to continue to put their foot on the gas.”
It has certainly been an adjustment for teams to play the end of an NBA regular season, then play up to eight weeks of playoff games in the COVID-19 bubble the league has created in Orlando. That adjustment was further exacerbated by having not played competitive basketball since mid-March.
“They have never played in an environment like this,” Stephenson continued. “Being isolated in a campus-like environment…it is not what they’re used to. That is the biggest difference.”
That difference can be especially felt on the court, particularly when certain players may not get the same level of energy during a game where 18,000 fans aren’t screaming for you. “Guys get their energy from different places…Giannis (Antetokounmpo) will tell you his motivation is from within,” explained Stephenson.
“George Hill has said, ‘Yeah, we miss the fans.’ Especially in a playoff environment, that makes it enjoyable and tough on the opponent. That’s why you work so hard all year to get home court advantage. Having to come to play inside Fiserv Forum for a playoff game is tough. As an opponent, it’s not something you look forward to.”
But excuses have never won championships. So the Bucks have had to adjust.
“There’s going to come a point where it’s like, okay, everybody is in the bubble. Everyone is going through this. It’s an even playing field. We can’t use the excuse of ‘we’re figuring out this environment,'” said Stephenson.
“It’s the same team, the same principles, the same goals. There are levels to this, and they’re trying to ramp it back up. Hopefully they keep it in the right direction.”