Eastern Conference Finals: Hawks vs Bucks

[Superbone]

No structural damage to left knee of Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, sources say

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/317 ... ources-say

That is amazingly lucky. I wonder how true that is. The headline says "no structural damage" but the article says no ligament damage. There could still be a major bone bruise and the capsule damage. Neither of those would let him come back this series (likely).

Or stretched ligaments.

[JeremyG]

It's crazy how this series is so uncertain all the sudden. And I don't know even know who we would rather face at this point, especially with all the unknowns with regard to the injuries.

[Indy]

It's crazy how this series is so uncertain all the sudden. And I don't know even know who we would rather face at this point, especially with all the unknowns with regard to the injuries.

Agreed. I mean I think we have the best chance of winning against the Bucks if Giannis isn't playing. But you have a hard time planning for the unknowns. Same thing with Atlanta and the Trae whistles.

(And can you imagine the narrative of AD/Murray/Kawhi/Giannis all missing in our wins?)

[ShelC]

I'd feel a lot better beating Trae and the Hawks than a Giannis-less Bucks.

[Charlie Smithy!]

It's crazy how this series is so uncertain all the sudden. And I don't know even know who we would rather face at this point, especially with all the unknowns with regard to the injuries.

Agreed. I mean I think we have the best chance of winning against the Bucks if Giannis isn't playing. But you have a hard time planning for the unknowns. Same thing with Atlanta and the Trae whistles.

(And can you imagine the narrative of AD/Murray/Kawhi/Giannis all missing in our wins?)

I have already unfortunately seen the narrative on the internet, it's not pretty.

But I guess after Kevin Johnson, Cedric ceballos, Danny Manning, Joe Johnson, Kurt Thomas, Raja Bell... I wonder how much I will care about said narrative.

[The Bobster]

I don't care about any narratives.

I've had a lifetime of guys like Alvan Adams, Joe Johnson, Cedric Ceballos, Amare Stoudamire, etc. being out during parts of (if not all of) the playoffs and the Suns didn't get any participation ribbons.

You play who you're matched up against, and if they don't stay healthy, you do your best to kick the crap out of them and move on.

[Nodack]

I don't care about any narratives.

I've had a lifetime of guys like Alvan Adams, Joe Johnson, Cedric Ceballos, Amare Stoudamire, etc. being out during parts of (if not all of) the playoffs and the Suns didn't get any participation ribbons.

You play who you're matched up against, and if they don't stay healthy, you do your best to kick the crap out of them and move on.

YA!

[ShelC]

[Mori Chu]

On the flip side, we still talk about injuries / BS that we went through in '94, '95, '05, '06, and '07 among other years and are not totally over it. So you can see why these other fan bases are grumbling about what might have been. I think lots of teams can make a good case that this year they got screwed. The Lakers lost a chance at a pretty easy repeat title and another title for Lebron's legacy / GOAT argument. The Nuggets looked like the young upstart team that was finally ready to go to the Finals if Murray hadn't gotten hurt (I still think they'd have made it if they had their full roster). The Clips arguably outplayed us in Games 2-5 and could have won the series if Kawhi had been there, setting up the franchise for its first ever title. The Nets almost made the ECF with 2/3 of their Big 3 hobbled.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I would like to press the 'dislike' button now.

[The Bobster]

On the flip side, we still talk about injuries / BS that we went through in '94, '95, '05, '06, and '07 among other years and are not totally over it. So you can see why these other fan bases are grumbling about what might have been. I think lots of teams can make a good case that this year they got screwed. The Lakers lost a chance at a pretty easy repeat title and another title for Lebron's legacy / GOAT argument. The Nuggets looked like the young upstart team that was finally ready to go to the Finals if Murray hadn't gotten hurt (I still think they'd have made it if they had their full roster). The Clips arguably outplayed us in Games 2-5 and could have won the series if Kawhi had been there, setting up the franchise for its first ever title. The Nets almost made the ECF with 2/3 of their Big 3 hobbled.

And yet none of that happened. We don't go around pretending like the Suns should have been the real champion any of those years or that the other team's accomplishments are diminished. Winning the title is not an easy thing no matter what the circumstances. Hell, Golden State went 73-9 and didn't win the title. Shit happens along the way.

[Nodack]

There can only be one…

[pickle]

On the flip side, we still talk about injuries / BS that we went through in '94, '95, '05, '06, and '07 among other years and are not totally over it. So you can see why these other fan bases are grumbling about what might have been. I think lots of teams can make a good case that this year they got screwed. The Lakers lost a chance at a pretty easy repeat title and another title for Lebron's legacy / GOAT argument. The Nuggets looked like the young upstart team that was finally ready to go to the Finals if Murray hadn't gotten hurt (I still think they'd have made it if they had their full roster). The Clips arguably outplayed us in Games 2-5 and could have won the series if Kawhi had been there, setting up the franchise for its first ever title. The Nets almost made the ECF with 2/3 of their Big 3 hobbled.

And yet none of that happened. We don't go around pretending like the Suns should have been the real champion any of those years or that the other team's accomplishments are diminished. Winning the title is not an easy thing no matter what the circumstances. Hell, Golden State went 73-9 and didn't win the title. Shit happens along the way.

I want for us to have a championship first so we can discuss how big of an asterisk to add next to our name in the record books. Ain’t nobody ever adding asterisks to the second place finisher.

[Gladiator]

Also a lot of the players out with injury are injury-prone players. Not all granted, but Kawhi, AD, Kyrie they’re often injured. Part of the deal with paying big $s on players like that is the risk they’ll miss big games with injury.
I could care less about any narrative if we win the title.

[pickle]

On the flip side, we still talk about injuries / BS that we went through in '94, '95, '05, '06, and '07 among other years and are not totally over it. So you can see why these other fan bases are grumbling about what might have been. I think lots of teams can make a good case that this year they got screwed. The Lakers lost a chance at a pretty easy repeat title and another title for Lebron's legacy / GOAT argument. The Nuggets looked like the young upstart team that was finally ready to go to the Finals if Murray hadn't gotten hurt (I still think they'd have made it if they had their full roster). The Clips arguably outplayed us in Games 2-5 and could have won the series if Kawhi had been there, setting up the franchise for its first ever title. The Nets almost made the ECF with 2/3 of their Big 3 hobbled.

You are probably not wrong. I too am inflicted with the ability to see things from others’ perspectives. But as the cliche goes, injuries are a part of the game. Jamal Murray might have been an exception in this case, but everyone has known for several years now that AD and Kawhi are injury prone players. When both those teams signed these two guys, they knew full well they might get their stars fully healthy 60% of the time and they just hoped through load management and modern science to time it for the post season and it didn’t work out. The Lakers should thank their lucky stars that AD actually survived last postseason unscathed. Jamal Murray is not known as injury prone, but I think we would’ve beat them at full strength in 7 games, thanks to home court advantage.

Nobody talks about how the Lakers got a Denver squad running on fumes before being taken to six games by a Cinderella Miami team that lost three starters to injury. They just talk about LeBron like he somehow proved his greatness. Nobody talks about how Toronto beat a Warriors team missing two of its four superstars for most of that six game series; they talk about how Kawhi was a savior and competing with LeBron to become the first star to win finals MVP with three different teams.

Why should we apologize?

[Flagrant Fowl]

LeBron and Murray were the only two injuries that were outliers to me, and I think I'm being a bit generous with LeBron considering the number of games he's played in his career.

Like others have said, Anthony Day-to-Davis and Kawhi Leonard cannot use the injury excuse when they're constantly missing games in the first place. I don't know why I've even given this debate this much of my time. It's illogical and anyone trying to use it to diminish the Suns accomplishments is either a jealous fan of another team or a media-type who's just trying to create content. (Looking at you, Ringer NBA Show.)

[pickle]

Bucks start has gone as well as anyone could hope for. Maybe Giannis going out will clarify offensive roles for Middleton and Holiday.

[pickle]

Battle of the second line. Bucks just can’t hit a three to save their lives. I’d be super worried if I were a Bucks fan…

[Flagrant Fowl]

The more I watch these teams with an eye for how they match up against the Suns, the more I want to play Atlanta.

Trae Young is a problem, but the rest of the roster doesn't scare me at all.

Milwaukee has Middleton, Holiday, Lopez and Tucker. They've never won a ring, but they're serious veterans who will fight their asses off.

[pickle]

Still not worried about the Bucks… only one of Giannis and Lopez can operate inside and we do have one of the better interior defenders in the league. Mikal will be as good a defender on Middleton as there is in the league, and Jrue Holiday isn’t going to win them any rings by himself.