Nba, the Miami Heat eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks of Antetokounmpo. Playoffs, the situation – Corriere.it

The NBA is running out of the first round of the playoffs and in the sieve of the quarterfinals of the Eastern and Western Conferences, after the elimination of already ambitious teams like the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers, even the Milwaukee Bucks. That is the formation that had the absolute pole position in the grid of challenges for the title, having obtained the best balance between victories and defeats in the regular season. In purely theoretical terms, the Bucks, champions again in 2021, 50 years after the 1971 title won when Kareem Abdul Jabbar (Ferdinand Lew Alcindor at the time) still wore the green-and-white shirt, always winning at home would have been enough to reach the goal. Instead they wrecked badly in the series against the Miami Heat, who for the record had entered the playoffs with the last available place, that is by winning the play-in play-off against the Chicago Bulls. Driven once again by their star, Jimmy Butler capable of scoring 56 points in game four (that of the 3-1 and the tear) and 42 in the fifth and then decisive challenge on the enemy field, the Heat have exposed the unsuspected fragility of Milwaukeepunished in extra time after making all sorts of mistakes and above all after squandering a 16-point lead in the fourth half.

Antetokounmpo’s message

Thus Giannis Antetokounmpo also leaves the scene

, the Bucks totem who could have competed once again for the Mvp title (in reality he was more of an outsider than a favorite in this nomination) and who instead found himself stranded. The Greek-Nigerian has due to the extenuating circumstance (to be extended in part to the team) of the back injury in game 1 which led to his absence in the second and third games. After elimination they asked him if he considered this season a failure. His response was applause: Bankruptcy? It doesn’t exist in sports. Michael Jordan played 15 years and won 6 championships. Were the other 9 a failure?.

The situation in the East

With the exit of Milwaukee, in the East the quotations of Philadelphia and basically also of the New York Knicks automatically increase, to which Tom Thibodeau gave a solid square. On the other hand, Boston suffers more than expected: the Atlanta Hawks reopened the series (now at 3-2 for the Celtics) by winning Game 5 away, that of the first match ball of their rivals. The Hawks had folded Miami in the first round of the play-ins, perhaps an unsuspected fire burns inside them.

The situation in the West

In the West, already promoted battleships Denver (at this point, with the Bucks out, she becomes the first favorite, having had the second best record in the regular season) and Phoenix, the developments of Memphis Grizzlies-Los Angeles Lakers (2-3) and Sacramento Kings-Golden State Warriors (2-3) are expected. Memphis took advantage of the field factor to shorten the distances, but to get to game 7 (he would be at home) he must give the Lakers the outside shot from game 1. Instead, the Warriors, holders of the title, have already performed a half miracle: under 0 -2, they took the lead on the thrust of Stephen Curry, more than ever the driving force of everything. Their simple message: never underestimate champions.