Believe in the sleeve
The biggest adjustment either team made heading into Game 2 came to light hours before the two teams took to the court at Fiserv Forum.
Ersan Ilyasova, in his 11th season in the NBA and ahead of possibly the most important game of his career, had decided to don a shooting sleeve on his right arm.
Shooting sleeved Ersan?!?! pic.twitter.com/S69HoY6HoH
— Kane Pitman (@KanePitman) May 17, 2019
By the end of the night, the only really question was what could Ilyasova’s career have looked like if he’d made the move sooner. Top-10 all-time scorer? All-time leader in three-point makes? Multiple Defensive Player of the Year wins?
On Friday’s evidence, there may still be time.
In 21 minutes of action in Game 2, Ilyasova scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, had three rebounds, two assists and two steals, finished as a game-high +22 in terms of plus-minus, and drew three charges.
The Bucks have already had games taken over by Malcolm Brogdon, George Hill and Pat Connaughton off the bench, and having already enjoyed an outstanding playoffs overall, Ilyasova took his turn in Game 2.
Now, we just have to wait and see if we’ll also get a shooting sleeve on the left arm for Game 3.