Milwaukee Bucks: Grades from 92-87 Game 5 loss to Boston Celtics

D. Joe Prunty tried a lot of different things in this game. The majority of those moves probably erred closer toward being a negative, but there were some things that worked too. <p>The strangest element of Prunty’s game management came in the form of Giannis’ minutes. Antetokounmpo sat out for over six minutes between the end of the first and early minutes of the second quarter, only to then play the entirety of the second half.</p> <p>Milwaukee’s problem in the second half was they were just never quite able to get all the way back to tie the Celtics. If Antetokounmpo’s minutes had been managed more effectively, the Bucks mightn’t have been in quite as big of a hole to begin with.</p> <p>Prunty’s late game lineups were somewhat puzzling, but they weren’t unprovoked. Shabazz Muhammad only entered the game because of the collective struggles of Snell, Brogdon and Dellavedova. Muhammad proved to be the hot hand, and Prunty trusted in him, as he has done with players who’ve delivered throughout the series.</p> <p>That trust undoubtedly went too far, and the alternative likely should have been cutting Dellavedova and Brogdon a bit more slack. Likewise, if Prunty was prepared to break out of his recent rotation, <a rel=. Head Coach. Milwaukee Bucks. JOE PRUNTY