The Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans and Boston Celtics all lost at home tonight for their third playoff lost. These series aren’t over, but a 3-0 deficit has never been overcome in the NBA. None of the teams who played tonight seem likely to change that.
I was dismissive of the Celtics. I underestimated them quite a bit. They might be favored against any other Eastern Conference team from 4-8. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers have been bludgeoning them at every turn. If a series can be summarized in one play, there was a play where Evan Turner went for an aggressive dunk in the 4th quarter that was summarily eliminated by Lebron James. When James got up, he yells at Evan Turner “You tried.”
I feel worse for the Bucks. They’ve played competitive games against the Chicago Bulls. They go home to Milwaukee and meet a crowd that seemed at least 50% filled with Chicago fans. They take the Bulls to double overtime. Then they collapse allowing the Bulls to score 12 straight points in 2OT.I watched a Bucks fan go through the seven stages of grief at a local bar. The Bucks often look like a competent team, but they’ve been star crossed all year. I’m excited about their future, but this year they’ve been simultaneously overachieving and disappointing. Derrick Rose has looked amazing, and hopefully he’ll be healthy during the inevitable second round series against the Cavaliers.
The last game of the night was a reenactment of the Battle of Thermopylae. The New Orleans Pelicans hoped that this was going to be more like the French Revolution where the rebels win. After a close set of games where the Pelicans fought valiantly, they outplayed the Warriors for 36 minutes. They had a 20 point lead against the mighty Warriors. 17 minutes later, the uprising was quelled. New Orleans’ soldiers were slaughtered. New Orleans’ leader was killed. Stephen Curry did everything but raise the Golden State logo over the Smoothie King Center and set New Orleans on fire. And then the Warriors made the comeback official in overtime. The series was over when it was announced, yet each close New Orleans loss still feels painful.
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