Milwaukee Bucks Game 3 Preview: April 20 vs Boston Celtics
By Adam McGee
Major key for Milwaukee – Find their focus
This applies to the Bucks on many fronts, as focus certainly hasn’t been one of the buzz words that could be associated with Milwaukee’s efforts and demeanor over the past few days.
On the court, the Bucks need to tighten up. The Bucks need to ensure they don’t give the Celtics any extra impetus.
The Bucks have the best field goal percentage of any team in the postseason, but through two games they’re down 0-2. In many cases that would seem like an indicator of great misfortune, but it’s simply a signal of carelessness when it comes to the Bucks.
Not only are the Bucks turning it over the most of any playoff team on a per game basis, but they’re also fouling with the second highest frequency.
Boston’s stellar defense is guaranteed to force Milwaukee into tough spots and decisions offensively, but the Bucks have to lock in and give themselves every chance of limiting the damage they inflict on themselves out of those scenarios.
Away from the court, comments from Bucks’ practice on Thursday weren’t encouraging in terms of offering a potential snapshot of the team’s mentality. While Jabari Parker and Eric Bledsoe may have been serving their own agendas or egos, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo, unsurprisingly, who seemed ready to drive his team in the right direction.
If the Bucks can’t clear their minds and focus on the outcome of Friday’s game, and Friday’s game only, this will be another loss and the series will likely finish on Sunday.