I don't know if this is good or bad news. I want to see the Bucks beat them with their best, to prove that they deserve to be there. I can picture the media, if the Bucks win it, and Harden doesn't play a few games. They're going to be whining that the only reason the Bucks won was because Harden was out.
Injuries happen. Embiid is not 100% (not close) and they lost to Atlanta today. I guess I don’t listen to the media much anymore especially the talking heads. Barkley has Milwaukee winning the series, most feel it’s a 7 game series to begin with. Hey many / most had LA over Phoenix (for the record I had the Suns) and don’t see a lot of talk about LA injuries now so maybe people just accept it as part of the grind. It’s does change the rotation a bit I think. Tucker was on Harden so maybe that changes.
Do the players go soft every year in the playoffs or is Bud just out coached every year.
Were they "soft" against Miami? No. Were they "soft" last night? Saturday? no. Check out rebounds and points in the paint. Was Bud out coached vs Miami? No. Was he out coached in Games 1 & 2? no. They made an adjustment last night with Holiday on Kyrie, your best defensive player and he goes off for 22. Your defensive MVP switches to Durant and he goes off for 32. Solid adjustments but players did not execute.