Giannis Drops 45 as Bucks Hold off 76ers Despite Joel Embiid's Triple-Double
The red-hot Milwaukee Bucks continued their march to the playoffs with a 128-122 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Thursday’s Eastern Conference showdown and potential playoff preview at Wells Fargo Center.
Milwaukee clinched the No. 1 seed in the East and is now 6-1 in its last seven games, while Philadelphia lost its third straight and fell to 2-5 in its last seven.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was brilliant for the visitors with 45 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and five blocks, while Khris Middleton (22 points) and George Hill (20 points, five assists, five rebounds) provided support.
Joel Embiid did all he could for the 76ers in defeat with a triple-double of 34 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists, three blocks and two steals, nearly making up for the absence of Jimmy Butler. JJ Redick (29 points) and Mike Scott (22 points) combined for 11 three-pointers, and Ben Simmons dished out 13 assists, but it still wasn't enough to overcome the firepower of Antetokounmpo.
Even With No. 1 Seed, Bucks Not Favorites to Come out of East
With the potential MVP leading the way, Milwaukee has been incredible all season and will enjoy home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. But it still shouldn't be seen as the favorite to reach the NBA Finals.
Its lack of depth was exposed in the opening three minutes of Thursday's game when Eric Bledsoe was ejected for throwing the ball at Embiid. That forced Antetokounmpo and Middleton into a situation in which they had to carry the offense on almost every possession without a number of the team's primary playmakers.
That the ejection of the Bucks' third-leading scorer—even one as talented as Bledsoe—can make the entire game seem as if it hangs by a string is an issue when contests take on more meaning.
Chris Bengel of CBS Sports provided a roundup of the Milwaukee injury news, noting Middleton missed the previous two games with groin soreness, Antetokounmpo has been dealing with a right ankle sprain and Nikola Mirotic has worked through a thumb injury.
According to Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, multiple teammates do not expect Malcolm Brogdon to return from plantar fasciitis until the second round of the playoffs, which takes away one of the facilitators and shooters surrounding Antetokounmpo right as the postseason pressure starts.
The injuries are far from the only reason to doubt the Bucks, though. The franchise hasn't won a playoff series since the 2000-01 campaign. This is still a relatively unknown group in terms of postseason success, which is something that can't be said of its primary Eastern Conference competitors.
Milwaukee lost to the Boston Celtics in last year's playoffs even though Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving were both sidelined. While Boston has been inconsistent at best, it still has the same core that reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals and will have Irving, who won a title with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Hayward available.
The Toronto Raptors reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016, as well as the second round in each of the last two postseasons, only to be eliminated by LeBron James. James is no longer in the East, and former Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard is now north of the border as arguably the premier two-way player in the league.
Leonard is someone who can counter Antetokounmpo on both ends, should they meet in a series.
Even Philadelphia has four potential go-to players in crunch time with Simmons, Embiid, Butler and Tobias Harris, which is more than the shorthanded Bucks. The playoffs often boil down to individual players making plays with the game on the line, and Brogdon's questionable status takes one of those options away from Milwaukee.
There is no questioning the Bucks' regular-season success in 2018-19, but it is fair to ask whether it will translate to the playoffs given the lingering injuries and multiple established challengers.
Joel Embiid Only Thing Preventing 76ers from Playoff Disaster
Playoff positioning takes center stage this time of year, but the most important thing in Thursday's game was Embiid and the fact he was limping around and grimacing in pain a number of times.
The All-Star big man missed the last three games, and the 76ers went 1-2 while allowing 120.3 points per contest. Those came against three non-playoff teams in the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves; it's not as if they were playing the Golden State Warriors.
Philadelphia has been downright abysmal on the defensive end when Embiid is not there to protect the rim, patrol the glass and clean up for others' mistakes. The team's defensive rating is 103.3 when he's on the court and 108.8 when he's off it, and his net rating of 7.9 is well ahead of the rest of his teammates, per NBA.com.
The Sixers are going to be the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, thanks largely to his efforts, and expectations have been raised. Owner Josh Harris suggested as much when discussing a potential early exit, per Jackie MacMullan of ESPN:
"It would be problematic. Very problematic. It would not be what we're playing for.
"We'd be unhappy. I'd be unhappy. The city would be unhappy. We're going to work hard to make sure that doesn't happen. We have enough talent on our roster that if we play the way we're capable of playing, we can beat any team in the East."
It was no accident the 76ers looked better on the defensive end against the Bucks when Embiid returned than they did against the non-playoff teams without him. He changes the entire equation for this squad, especially with a potential first-round against the Detroit Pistons looming.
The big-man combination of Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond is among the most formidable in the league, and Philadelphia's suspect defense without Embiid would be completely exposed if he were unable to go for any reason.
Successful as The Process has been in making the 76ers a contender in the Eastern Conference, a first-round exit would be a disaster after they traded for Butler and Harris this season.
Embiid is the only thing standing in the way of that reality.
What’s Next?
Both teams play Saturday, with the Bucks hosting the Brooklyn Nets and the 76ers at the Chicago Bulls.
