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The Milwaukee Bucks looked like they were dead in the water after they lost Damian Lillard to an Achilles injury. But the Bucks didn't get the memo and didn't just roll over in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers. Alas, thanks to a legendary choke job, the Bucks have now been sent packing by the Pacers, with Indiana taking the series, 4-1, courtesy of a 119-118 overtime win on Tuesday night.
All night long, it looked like the Bucks had found their second wind and weren't just about to give up without a fight. But they seemed to drink too much of their Kool-Aid in the process, which may have given the Pacers a bigger chip on their shoulder as they mounted an epic comeback in the final minute of overtime.
According to Pacers center Myles Turner, the Bucks were hyping themselves up as a championship squad — which they clearly aren't now that they're officially out of championship contention.
“‘We’re a championship team. You all thought you were gonna beat us.' They said that verbatim,” Turner said, per Alex Golden of The Blue and Golden.
It's not quite clear who on the Bucks would say such a thing, but that may not have been the wisest thing to say at the moment. They were on the brink of elimination and the odds to advance to the next round were still in the Pacers' favor.
While it's not always the best to just “act tough when you're up”, the Bucks must have known that the Pacers were going to use such a slight to rile themselves up. Suffice to say, the remark the Bucks allegedly are guilty of backfired in a hurry.
Pacers send the Bucks packing for the second straight year
It's not quite clear what was going on in the mind of the Bucks player who was guilty of what Myles Turner is alleging. How can Milwaukee field a championship roster when they're without their second-best player and their depth, despite their trade deadline maneuvering, isn't the best? Giannis Antetokounmpo can only take a limited roster such as this very far, and all they've managed to reach over the past three seasons is the first round of the playoffs.
Nonetheless, what's important is that the Pacers have taken care of business against the Bucks for the second consecutive year, although what awaits them is a difficult second-round matchup against a 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers team that ate the eighth-seeded Miami Heat alive.
