With the series trailing 1-3 and the team's two leading stars collectively out due to injury, it seems inevitable that they will be eliminated from the tournament in this case, right? The Pacers probably thought the same way, and after the series was defeated by the Bucks, the Pacers had a lot of momentum to end the series. However, under the good situation, the Pacers failed to seize the God-given opportunity, losing the series G5, and the Bucks rewrote the series score to 2-3.
The Bucks had a poor regular season finale, falling to third place in the East to avoid the Heat and the 76ers, and it looked like a good option against the Pacers. However, the unexpected injury of Brother Alphabet affected the Bucks' strength, and the G3 injury of the Damian Lillard series made the Bucks even worse, which led to the rapid rout of the series. When their lives were hanging by a thread, these role players of the Bucks lifted the building, allowing the team to still retain the opportunity to "live".
To be able to beat the Pacers, the performances of Chris Middleton and Bobby Portis are particularly crucial. As the only remaining backbone of the team's "Big Three", Chris Middleton's form has declined after suffering a major injury, but he has performed well in the playoffs this season, and Bobby Portis has been in an up-and-down state, but his performance in the G5 series is very good, contributing 29 points and 10 rebounds on 14-of-24 shooting in the game, becoming an offensive point that the opponent Pacers cannot solve.
In addition to that, Patrick Beverley's performance has to be said.
Patrick Beverley continued to be passionate in this game and played his own value in the tandem team's offense, contributing 13 points and 12 assists on 4-of-7 shooting in the game, with only 2 turnovers in the game. With Damian Lillard out of the game, Patrick Beverley's importance to the Bucks has increased significantly, and he is still the annoying guy on the defensive end, but he didn't expect the offensive end to play an important role in sorting out the team.
He signed a one-year contract with the 76ers this season, but was traded to the Bucks in the middle of the season, and Patrick Beverley continued to wander around the league at the end of his career. Patrick Beverley still wants to prove himself in the league and even gave up surgery to play in the playoffs, saying on the show, "The Bucks traded me to help the team in the playoffs, I can't let my teammates, the coaching staff and the team down, I'm here to compete for a championship." ”
As it turns out, Patrick Beverley isn't a "big mouth" this time around, and he did help the Bucks in the playoffs. When the team faced a do-or-die match, he played a pretty good game, and he even had a plus/minus of +36. Patrick Beverley is a ruthless character on the court who is able to irritate his teammates during the game and use it to boost their morale. When he played for the Lakers, Patrick Beverley had a famous scene of holding a camera and "theorizing" with the referee, and the Lakers today actually lack such a role.
(Text/Yan Wuqiang)