Grades from Milwaukee Bucks’ season-ending loss to Boston Celtics
Grades from Milwaukee Bucks Season Ending Loss to Boston: Starters
Jrue Holiday: B
Jrue Holiday overall played a decent game, he played decent defense, he played decent offense, he was efficient handling the ball. What the Milwaukee Bucks needed was nothing short of Jrue Holiday’s A-game and unfortunately he played a B game.
Jrue Holiday scored 21 points on 9-of-21 shooting (42.8 percent) which is decent. However, Holiday was 0-of-6 behind the 3-point line and took some tough contested shots. Holiday did make three of his four free throws and his grade saving performance came as a ball-handler and passer, Jrue finished game 7 with eight assists and just one turnover. Holiday did add five rebounds and two steals as well.
Grayson Allen: D
Grayson Allen wasn’t able to find his offensive footing in this series unfortunately for the Milwaukee Bucks, when Grayson did finally hit a 3-point shot, it was wiped out by a questionable offensive foul call on George Hill. Allen finished this game with just one point and three rebounds on 0-of-6 shooting and 0-of-4 behind the 3-point line. What saves Grayson Allen from an F is he actually played some solid defense. Allen finished with the highest plus/minus of those playing significant minutes, sadly it was a -5. Against Jayson Tatum, Allen forced two turnovers and forced Tatum into some tough contested shots which he made 1-of-3, also against Marcus Smart, Allen forced two more turnovers.
Wesley Matthews: C-
Another quiet game from Matthews, unfortunately on both ends of the floor, isn’t what Milwaukee Bucks fans would have hoped for, as the Celtics found plenty of other ways to score points with Matthews as the primary defender on Boston’s two best players. On the offensive side of the ball, Wesley Matthews scored just three points, a back door layup and 1-of-2 at the free throw line being the only points he registered on 1-of-5 shooting and 0-for-3 beyond the arc. Matthews grabbed two rebounds as well in the loss. Whether or not the Bucks decide to bring him back will be seen this summer.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: A-
After the first quarter of Game 7, Giannis Antetokounmpo was on triple-double watch for the Milwaukee Bucks, however, the next three quarters were flat for the team as a whole. Antetokounmpo finished well, leaving everything on the court, which resulted in some all-time great stat-lines despite losing in the series. According to ESPN Stats & Info Giannis is the first player ever to score 200 points, grab 100 rebounds and distribute 50 assists in a single playoff series, it is a consolation prize but an impressive one anyway.
Giannis finished Game 7 with 25 points on 10-of-26 shooting, made 4-of-6 free throws, had 20 rebounds and nine assists with five turnovers, two steals, and a block. Unfortunately, Giannis did have some uncharacteristic misses at the rim late in the game when the Bucks were attempting to come back in game 7 and ultimately was part of the Bucks’ season-ending loss. In Giannis’ own words “We’ll be back Milwaukee.”
Brook Lopez: B+
Brook Lopez played easily his season-high in minutes in game 7, logging just over 37 minutes. It seemed that Mike Budenholzer wanted to combat Boston’s small ball lineup with Lopez’s size and it was working well in the first half. In the first half of Game 7 Lopez was 5-for-8 from the field, made his first 3-point shot of the series, scored 11 points, had six rebounds and three blocks. Unfortunately, Lopez was much quieter in the second half, registering just four points and four rebounds.
Ultimately, Lopez’s final stat-line was 15 points on solid shooting, 6-of-12, just 1-of-6 behind the 3-point line unfortunately, although he was not the only one struggling from deep, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and two turnovers. Hopefully Brook Lopez stays healthy during the regular season in 2022-23, his final year of his contract with the Milwaukee Bucks and can hone his 3-point shooting back to his splash mountain ways and the Bucks can make another title run next year.