In last season's NBA playoffs, the most impressive showdown for fans was the strong dialogue between the Nets and the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the two sides fought until the last moment of the seven-game battle, Irving was injured, Harden was injured in the case of the downturn in combat, Durant fought until the final lack of fitness, and finally could only watch the Bucks escape, and won the final championship trophy as desired, but in the series, the Bucks repeatedly appeared to pad the foot, making them the object of criticism by many fans. Won the coveted championship, but became the target of the bucks has become the truest portrayal of the Bucks!
However, I have to admit that after the blessing of the championship, the Bucks have become more stable in the new season, purely from the overall strength point of view, there is definitely hope of defending the title, but they were suddenly hit by injuries in the first round of the playoffs, in the second game of the series with the Bulls, Middleton was injured in the last quarter, according to the NBA famous WOJ news, Middleton left knee media collateral ligament sprain, will not be able to win the first round and the Bulls the rest of the playoffs, now the two teams are tied by a big score, The absence of the second boss greatly increases the probability of the defending champion stopping the first round!
After the first round of the NBA playoffs this season, the bucks and bulls showdown was once regarded as the most suspenseful set of series, the Bulls were abused by various heroes in the regular time stage, coupled with the gap in the dominance of the core players, so that their promotion prospects are not optimistic, but after Middleton's injury, the trend of the entire series will change significantly.
The Bucks were able to win the championship last season, inseparable from the defensive system built by head coach Budenholzer for the team, and Middleton and Holliday are the two most important iron gates on the team's outside line, placed in this series with the Bulls, Middleton bears the heavy responsibility of restricting the middle throw king DeRozan, and once he is injured, the pressure on the offensive end will be greatly reduced, after all, none of the Bucks forward players can play the role of Middleton on the defensive end.
If Holliday, who is slightly lower in height, goes to the front line to defend the Bulls' offensive stability deRozan, who has strong offensive ability, Lavine, who has a strong offensive ability, is likely to find a hot feel in the game and carry the team's offensive banner, which shows that without Middleton, the Bucks' defensive quality will have a significant decline.
And the impact on the offensive end is also very large, and like all the big three teams in history, the Bucks' overall offense is to build the super personal ability of the big three, this season's regular season, Middleton can average 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game, without his restraint on the outside, the alphabet brother will inevitably fall into a heavy siege on the inside, which is obviously not a good thing for the Bucks.
Last season, relying on actions that do not belong to the basketball court, won the series with the Nets, and now it is time to pay off the debt, which is also the time for many fans to say that although the Bucks deliberately lost in the final stage of the regular season and successfully avoided the Nets in the first round, the debt of last season's feet could not escape, and the Bulls, who were not optimistic, also saw the dawn on the following grams!