Milwaukee Bucks: Grades from Game 7 OT win against Brooklyn Nets
By Dalton Sell
Ladies and gentlemen, the Milwaukee Bucks have won their first Game 7 in the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2001.
Following a whopping 18 lead changes, eight ties, and an extra five minutes of overtime because the initial 48 minutes was not enough chaos, the Bucks emerged victorious with a 115-111 OT win. Despite having looked dead in the water at various points throughout this contest, this Milwaukee team banded together and pieced together a season-saving victory to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
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Perhaps that speaks to the thematic resiliency of the Bucks that has been on display throughout this series after they dropped the first two games in Brooklyn to find themselves in an 0-2 hole early on.
With everything seemingly tipping in the Nets’ favor in Game 7 all the way until Milwaukee big man Brook Lopez canned a pair of free throws with 0.3 seconds to seal the deal in OT, this team deserves props for battling it out until the very end.
With that being said, here are player grades from a historic Game 7 victory over the Nets that just etched its way into Milwaukee Bucks’ history forever.
How did the Milwaukee Bucks’ bench perform in Game 7 win against the Brooklyn Nets?
Considering he was the only reserve to receive hefty minutes in this matchup, this grade is solely for Pat Connaughton. Playing nearly 23-and-a-half minutes, the guard scored nine points by knocking down three triples in five attempts. That offensive boost was pivotal as the Bucks struggled to get their scoring going on multiple occasions throughout this game. The guard shot the long ball with confidence in the biggest game of his career yet and he came up big in the win. He also snatched four rebounds, but those nine points will be the biggest takeaway from him. Aside from Connaughton, the only reserves to play any minutes were Bryn Forbes and Thanasis Antetokounmpo. Forbes played just over five minutes and did not even attempt a shot, while Thanasis entered for under a minute and tallied a single rebound. While most of the workload was given to the starters, the bench, largely Connaughton, made good in this Game 7.. . Milwaukee Bucks. SECOND UNIT . B+