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Malika AndrewsESPN
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are hoping to avoid a carbon copy of their semifinals series against the Boston Celtics.
The Bucks won the series, taking the last four games, but they haven’t forgotten the 22-point whomping the Celtics delivered in Game 1.
Antetokounmpo said giving up Game 1 to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday could be a death knell.
“Against Boston, you can go down 1-0 and still be fine,” Antetokounmpo said at practice on Tuesday. “But against Toronto, it’s hard to be in that spot when you lose the first game in your home.”
Antetokounmpo said that he regards Kawhi Leonard as one of the best players in the league. Leonard hit a game-winning, deep-corner jumper in Game 7 against the 76ers to send the Raptors to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Antetokounmpo admitted he didn’t think the shot, which rattled around the rim four times, would go in.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Antetokounmpo said. “I thought it was gonna go to overtime.”
He continued: “I was talking to my family; I was watching the game and I told them that Toronto has some soft rims — so when you shoot the ball, it tends to bounce around the rim and it goes in some times; so you always have a chance if you shoot the ball with an arc. And I was saying that, and in the fourth quarter he hit the shot.”