Milwaukee Bucks: 15 greatest NBA playoff moments
By Adam McGee
12. Redd goes for 40 against Detroit
The mid-2000s were a particularly grim time for Milwaukee, and so memorable playoff moments from around that time are unfortunately few and far between.
Having said that, one particular game does stand out from that span as one of the most exceptional individual performances a Bucks player has ever managed to deliver in the playoffs.
Michael Redd spent 11 years as a Buck, and was clearly the best player on the team for the majority of that time.
He’s largely remembered by Bucks’ fans for his phenomenal 57-point game against the Utah Jazz, but Redd also delivered a playoff scoring performance that only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Terry Cummings and Ray Allen have bettered for Milwaukee.
That scoring effort came in Game 3 of the Bucks’ first round series with the Pistons in 2006. Having won a championship in 2004, the Pistons went back to the Finals only to lose in seven games in 2005, and won 64 games heading into this series with Milwaukee. In other words, the Bucks were very much odds on to be swept.
If not for Redd, they likely would have been.
Detroit went on to advance in five games, but in Game 3 they were blown out by 20 to the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Mo Williams certainly played his part, scoring 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting off the bench, but Redd was the game’s dominant figure as he dropped 40 points in just 34 minutes.
Making 4-of-5 from three-point range, and 14-of-21 from the field overall, Redd shot the lights out in a fashion that was by no means unfamiliar to Milwaukee’s fans.
Still, it undoubtedly left the Pistons speechless. What was a close game in the first half, became a rout in the second, and it was all thanks to Redd’s brilliance.