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Celtics Should Act on Giannis Antetokounmpo's Message After Heat Bounce Bucks from Playoffs
Entering the playoffs, it looked like the cost of playing down to competition .500 or worse too often would be the Celtics having to go through the Sixers and Bucks to return to the NBA Finals. Then, Jimmy Butler happened.
Playoff Jimmy dropped 56 points on Milwaukee in Game 4 and 42 in Game 5, sending the Bucks into the offseason. The latter face a myriad of questions, including to what extent they want to reconfigure a roster that entered the season the oldest in the NBA and whether to bring back Mike Budenholzer. There's also Giannis Antetokounmpo becoming extension eligible in September. The two-time league MVP has two years and a player option left on his contract.
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After the Heat outscored Milwaukee 42-24 on the Bucks' home floor in the fourth quarter and overtime of Game 5, Antetokounmpo stated, as conveyed by Adriana Torres of WBAY, "I feel like they were playing to beat us, and we were playing to win a championship."
That's a lesson Boston should take to heart. The Celtics were on their way to a second-round series against the Sixers before a Game 5 collapse on the TD Garden parquet, as the Hawks closed out the contest on a 20-6 run, rallying for a stunning 119-117 win.
When asked whether his team took its foot off the gas, Jaylen Brown replied, "I guess you could say that. We had some bonehead plays. Some fouls, and (we) gave them opportunities to get going," adding, "You give a team life, you leave it up to chance, and that's what we did tonight."
So, while Boston has home-court advantage for every series it's in, including if it gets back to the NBA Finals, the defending Eastern Conference champions can't lose focus or get caught looking ahead.
Atlanta has newfound confidence after Trae Young's 38-point eruption; Dejounte Murray will return from his one-game suspension motivated to make amends and help a Hawks team that went into TD Garden and won without him, bringing the series back to the Peach State.
If that translates to another Atlanta victory, these two teams are on to a Game 7 where anything can happen.
But maybe the Celtics' Game 5 loss and the Bucks getting bounced was the wake-up call they need after expressing they've learned from not efficiently ending multiple playoff series last year, only to repeat the offense on Tuesday.
What happens next is unknown, but what's certain is not capitalizing on the opportunity to put away the Hawks at home means more mileage on Boston's tires and more time for Joel Embiid to rest his sprained right knee.
The repercussion of that will get sorted out in time. And it might prove inconsequential or serve as added fuel that helped propel a championship run, but after seeing the price Milwaukee paid for looking ahead, the Celtics making the latter prospect come to fruition starts with giving Game 6 against Atlanta their full attention.
Further Reading
Film Room: Roots of Celtics' Game 5 Fourth Quarter Collapse
Here's What Stood Out in Celtics' Game 5 Loss vs. Hawks: Boston Talks the Talk but Doesn't Walk It
[Film Room] Derrick White's Assertiveness Leads to 26 Points, MVP Chants as Celtics Take 2-0 Lead
The Celtics Discuss Their Game 1 Win vs. the Hawks: 'We Can't Take Our Foot Off the Gas'
