P.J. Tucker was viewed by many as the perfect pickup for the Milwaukee Bucks when they traded for him before the NBA Trade Deadline earlier this year.
Knowing they would have to go through a gauntlet filled with talented scorers to potentially make it out of the Eastern Conference alive, having Tucker was pivotal. The forward has earned himself a well-deserved reputation as one of the most robust defenders across the association, and one name consistently popped up in the thought process as the Bucks pondered trading for Tucker.
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That player would be Kevin Durant, arguably the NBA’s greatest scorer over the past decade. Tucker has accumulated his share of experience in guarding Durant over the year after their battles fighting it out in the Western Conference playoffs on several occasions.
Wanting to shore up their defense, the Bucks made the no-brainer trade to bring in Tucker, but how exactly did the forward impact Milwaukee’s seven-game series with Brooklyn that concluded last night?
P.J. Tucker’s defense lived up to the billing for the Milwaukee Bucks by guarding Kevin Durant
It was a dogfight from start to finish, but Tucker was always content with guarding Durant across the seven games in this series. There is not a player on planet earth that can stop Durant’s scoring, but if you need a player to make every bucket difficult, Tucker is on a very short of names to handpick from. His mental toughness and grittiness as a defender were a luxury to have for the Bucks, and the forward made every shot hard-earned for the four-time scoring champion.
In the end, Durant still powered through the physicality of Tucker and put up some reputable numbers when they were matched up. According to NBA.com/stats, Durant finished the series with 93 total points on 35-of-77 (45.5 percent) shooting from the field and a subpar 8-of-26 from behind the arc with Tucker on him. Also logging 11 turnovers across their 203.8 partial possessions against one another, this was certainly a back and forth battle all series long between two of the best at their individual crafts.
These two have a documented playoff history, although it had always tipped in favor of Durant’s team to this point. When Tucker was asked about what it took to defend Durant over this grueling seven-game series that came down to the closing seconds and to finally be on the other side of the end result, he kept it genuine. Via the Milwaukee Bucks YouTube:
"“It’s painful, because I’m hurting. That was a battle every single night. I don’t know if I’ve ever put that much every night, emotionally, physically. It was a toll. That’s why the days seem so long because it’s like one long continuous day of seven games it seems like. I guess with a player like Kevin, there’s no time off. You can’t relax for one second. It was a fun series, battle. To be able to finally get over the hump against him was pretty nice. I’m excited. We’re just getting started, though. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”"
Safe to say that Tucker left a lasting impression on this series with his persistent defense. They do not win this series without him giving it 100 percent each and every night. Being thrust into the starting lineup with the season-ending injury to Donte DiVincenzo, the forward left everything out on that court every single time he took it. The toughness, physicality, and overall mindset he has brought to this locker room have spread throughout this entire team, which is something they have lacked over the past several years.
This fanbase has embraced Tucker from the moment he set foot in Milwaukee, but this thrilling series victory has only elevated his status as a fan favorite. However, as the man said himself, there is still much work to be done.