Let’s get this straight right off the top: The Milwaukee Bucks did not choke in their crushing Game 5 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, a game which they led by as many as 17 points.
Durant, even by his standards, was preposterous on Tuesday, finishing with 49 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and two blocks to become the first player in history to record a 45-15-10 playoff game.
“He’s the best player in the world right now,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said of Durant, and he’s not wrong.
This is insanity what he’s doing, though to be fair, when you watch him play, you wonder how you ever could’ve thought he would be anything other than great upon his return.
One played his heart out, but his considerable talent and commendable motor, effort and pride notwithstanding, he’s just not that guy, which we’ll get to shortly.
Instead, the dude was stuck on Joe Harris, who was a statue in the corner as Durant went to work on Khris Middleton and P.J.
Since then, Doc has made the adjustment, putting Simmons and Matisse Thybulle on Young, and the Sixers won Games 2 and 3 and have restored home-court advantage heading into Game 5 on Wednesday.
Their versatile talents are often best utilized in a free-safety capacity, roaming around in search of the right time and place to make their impact felt.
Giannis might not have the foot speed to stay with the shifty Durant, but he’s the only guy with the length to give him a prayer of at least bothering his shot.
“I try it,” an Eastern Conference coach texted CBS Sports on Tuesday night when I asked him why these great defenders are often kept off the greatest scorers.
Harsh as it sounds, that word sums up much of what Budenholzer’s Bucks stood for Tuesday night.
When the ball moves and there’s some semblance of pace to their half-court offense, Milwaukee gets good shots.
He has been stubborn with his defensive schemes in the past, and now he’s just sitting by letting his offense generate garbage look after garbage look while hiding behind the “make or miss league” guise.
If you think Giannis settling for fadeaway jumpers from the post in crunch time is a 50-50 proposition, you’re delusional.
When Giannis did go at Harden, it was, as in the case of the aforementioned fadeaway, in the post, the one place where Harden’s strength can allow him to hold his ground without having to move in space on that bum leg.
In reality, Holiday has looked a lot like Eric Bledsoe in this series, but he still has to play more than 34 minutes in a game like this.
But at the end of the day, Milwaukee’s shortcomings, at this point in time, are tied most directly to Giannis.
Back-to-back MVPs don’t mean a thing when you are lacking even a single go-to move in the half-court and you can’t shoot a lick.
This isn’t some new development.
Credit Griffin for sticking his nose in there, but honestly, it’s not that hard to guard Giannis.
We talk a lot about Simmons’ scoring aggressiveness, or lack thereof, and mindset is definitely more a part of his equation than Antetokounmpo’s, but we too easily leave out the actual fact that Simmons just can’t do the things so many people want him to do.
He is not a guy you can just turn to and say “win this game for us.” He is out of his depth.
But listen, the guy was shooting 13 percent from 3 in the playoffs, on almost five attempts per game, coming into Tuesday’s game.
Middleton and Holiday have to be big-time creators, rather than settling for pull-up jumpers, because their value lies so heavily in their being able to plug Giannis’ holes.
If Giannis were Durant, Budenholzer could get away with some of the stuff he does, too.