The Bucks clearly wanted to put the Heat away early yesterday, and not just because they knew the penchant of the 2023 National Basketball Association finalists for solid plays in the clutch. Having been on the wrong end of scores in the closing matches of the first round of the immediate past playoffs against the never-say-die red and black, they understood the value of creating separation before crunchtime. And, to their credit, they did, outscoring the visitors by double digits in each of the middle quarters to take a 24-point lead with them in the payoff period.
Unfortunately, the Bucks then eased up on the gas, resulting in the very nail biter they precisely wanted to avoid. Perhaps they got too comfortable, seeing as how the Heat went with reserves for the final 12 minutes. Although they didn’t veer from their regular rotation, they wound up being outhustled on both ends of the court, and to the point where their seemingly insurmountable advantage was down to single digits with four minutes and change still remaining on the clock. To argue that they went through a scare would be an understatement.
The Bucks did go on to win, effectively bouncing back from the blowout they suffered against the otherwise-hapless Hawks in their previous outing. The way they did so, however, left much to be desired; instead of taking a well-deserved rest, their starters had to scramble in the dying minutes to preserve the triumph. As top dog Giannis Antetokounmpo said in his post-mortem, “Once you’re up 20, you’ve got to put them away. We weren’t able to do that tonight. Hopefully, we can learn from this.”
The outcome is nonetheless a plus for the Bucks, who aim to improve as the season progresses in the face of significant changes to the roster. New acquisition Damian Lillard has been a boon save for a clunker against the Hawks. That said, there remains the a chasm between performance and potential. They’ll definitely get better when they meet the Heat again in four weeks. The extent of their improvement, however, depends on how well he gets his partnership with Antetokounmpo down pat in the interim.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
