The Milwaukee Bucks trail in a playoff series – stop me if you have heard that before.
Not too long ago, the Milwaukee Bucks were looking at a 2-1 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals after their MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo went down with what most thought was a season-ending knee injury.
Follow that up, that same Bucks team, went down two games to none in the NBA Finals to the Phoenix Suns.
And, just a recent as last season, dropped home-court to the Chicago Bulls in the opening round.
All of those resulted in Bucks series wins.
This, unfortunately, is nothing new.
Annoying? Sure. Frustrating? Absolutely.
But, under Coach Mike Budenholzer, this team routinely gets off to slow playoff starts, and regardless of how they start, they have won five of their past six playoff series after losing the opening game.
To make matters a bit more nerve-wracking for Bucks fans, Giannis looks like he will miss game 2, and maybe more following a hard fall in game 1 after going up for a lay up.
For me, despite that injury, I am not worried, and you shouldn’t be either.
If there’s a chance you are worried, then my guess is you didn’t expect this team to do much in this year’s playoffs.
The Bucks are built for this. They have the pieces to bounce back, and I fully expect them to.
This is a 58-win team going up against an 8-seed Miami Heat, who had to mount a comeback against the Bulls just to get into the dance.
I do not see this Heat team, who finished with the 4th worst shooting percentage in the regular season, to shoot 60% from three again.
And, speaking of injuries, for a team who routinely shot bad all season, losing one of their best shooters probably doesn’t make matters any better for them as Tyler Herro has been ruled out for multiple weeks with a broken hand.
This team, as much as I love them, they can be frustrating at times, but this is a proven roster, with championship winning experience.
From the words of a former MVP in this state, and almost former Packer – R-E-L-A-X, Bucks fans, relax, it’s going to be okay.