The Bucks Stopped Here: Sixers Bully Milwaukee, Even Series at 2-2

We’ve been waiting months for Bully Ball. Is it here to stay?

[photo: Elsa/Getty Images]

Andrew Unterberger is a famous writer who invented the nickname 'Sauce Castillo' and is now writing for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez, as part of the 'If Not, Pick Will Convey As Two Second-Rounders' section of the site. You can follow Andrew on Twitter @AUGetoffmygold and can also read him at Billboard. 

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NBA Playoffs Round Two: Bucks and Sixers Tied 2-2

Now having gone through two straight second-round series that ended game four in a 2-2 draw, I think we can officially say from experience: If you're ever given the choice, definitely do it by going down 2-0 and then winning the next two. 

Last year, we made the mistake of getting one of our wins in Toronto to go up 2-1 in Game Three -- though boy was that a time -- but then we let up in Game Four, losing a winnable game at home, and making all of us wonder if we hadn't already lost our best chance to take control of the series by the time we headed back up to Jurassic Park for Game Five. That felt bad. This, on the other hand? Marvelous! We're heading back north this time on a two-game winning streak, having just trucked the Bucks by a score of 127-103. Highly recommended, five stars, would do again. 

I'm still reeling a little bit at how easy this game was. Not that it was a blowout form the jump, exactly -- Giannis Antetokounmpo would make sure of that -- but even though it wasn't quite a wire-to-wire win, of the 2880 combined seconds in this game, there was nary a one where the Sixers didn't feel in control. We led after one, led by more after two, led by more after three, and let Jamal Crawford and Kyle O'Quinn take it from there, as chants of "BULL-IES! BULL-IES!" rained down from the not-WFC rafters. (BTW, how adorable are those two getting with all their mismatched chest-bumping and head-rubbing? Let's get Matisse to teach them TikTok over the summer and see what happens.) 

And while Game Three was dominated by Joel Embiid, the tone was set in this one early and often by Ben Simmons. He scored the Sixers' first six points of the game -- four at the charity stripe -- attacking the basket relentlessly, proving that when he gets an emoji-snort's worth of steam, not even the reigning MVP can deny him getting to the cup. And yes, he even sneaked a couple three-point attempts in the first half, hitting one in the second half that let the not-WFC crowd know it was going to be that kind of game. He ended with a 26-10-8 in three quarters' and change worth of action, the kind of casually dominant performance we hope to someday see nightly from our still-young star. 

But he wasn't the most spectacular Sixer on the night: That would have to be one Tobias John Harris, who had easily his most productive game of the postseason. Tobi had the mid-range jumper working early, and with Ben doing yeoman's work getting into the paint, he was the beneficiary of a number of primo opportunities for kickout triples, nearly all of which he had deposited -- a stark contrast to his infamous 2-13 performance from downtown in Game Four a year earlier. He even got to the line seven times -- basically Adrian Dantley rates by Harris' standards -- and ended with a team-high 35 on 13-22 shooting, getting this to laugher territory by third quarter's end. For once, even I don't have anything negative to say about Tobias' performance. (Well there was the one possession in the second where he intentionally let the ball bounce out of bounds even though it was clear to everyone watching that Al Horford had touched it last, but we'll mostly let that one slide.) 

Really, though, everyone got into the fun on this one. Josh "Don't Call Me Jason" Richardson put up an efficient 17 on 6-11 shooting, while holding George Hill to just 2-6 shooting from deep -- the arctic tundra compared to how hot his shooting had been the first three games. Al Horford, inserted into the starting lineup tonight to help with the burden on Giannis, hit a couple threes and even shimmied his way to two nice over-the-shoulder post scores in the second. Embiid didn't have his number called as often tonight, but still ground his way to 20 and 10 on the dot before taking a much-deserved fourth quarter off. Zhaire Smith had an open-court dunk. Glenn Robinson III attempted a three. It was such on-court merriment that Mike Budenholzer started picking fights with the refs in the second half, in the hopes that he would get booted from the game and not have to risk experiencing any second-hand joy. 

One year since the Kawhi Leonard quadruple doink, why it still hurts, and what would have happened in overtime. We discuss the NBAPA conference call with seven people who we can't imagine on one conference call talking about restarting the NBA. And Matt from Mt.

And even with all that, I gotta say, I didn't really feel safe until the Bucks put Giannis Antetokounmpo on the bench for good. He has just been an absolute nightmare in this series, and even in a blowout tonight, he had stretches of single-handedly breathing life back into Milwaukee with a jumper here, a step-through layup there, whistles and foul shots absolutely everywhere, on the way to another 35-point game that probably could've been far more if he played a full four quarters. Embiid (and to a lesser extent, Horford) are doing what they can with the man but it's getting to be like Ben on Kawhi Leonard last year, where the Anna Kendrickiest of pitch-perfect defense still doesn't diminish a single bit of his productivity. I don't know what the Sixers did to deserve playing the most unstoppable player in the world two second rounds in a row -- well, aside from losing a whole bunch of regular season games they should have won, lol -- but that appears to be where they're at in this series. 

"Kid's some player, isn't he?" Brett Brown chuckled at his post-game press conference, his label-less water bottle from the late regular season making a noted reappearance. "Not like we didn't know that already, but when you get to watch a player like that over the course of an extended series, you really come to appreciate and marvel at the mastery of their craft, the toughness of their spirit. Luckily, we've got a couple guys like that on our side too, and they came to ball tonight too. It's because of them, and because the guys behind them are following their example and stepping up, that we were able to even this series, and that we feel pretty good heading back up there to Milwaukee for Game Five." 

A smiling Ben Simmons -- ok, smirking, but for Ben that's as close to a smile as we're getting -- seemed to be feeling unusually good himself. "Yeah, I thought we really brought the energy tonight," he told reporters. "Coach and Jo, they both came to me before the game, told me they needed me to be aggressive tonight. So that's what I did. Other guys did their part, Jo was a beast, Tobi... hey Tobi, get over here!" Harris, walking by the interview, ducked his head in, laughing sheepishly. "This is a bad man right here. You might not think so sometimes, with the books and all, but this is a bad man. Don't leave him open behind the arc." 

So yeah, it's all smirks and laughs and clapping-your-hands-everybody for the new Broad Street Bullies today. Unfortunately, we still have to go win one on the road to have a chance of actually winning this series, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we'd rather do so in Game Five. Steal one on Friday night and then we can end it back in Philly on Sunday, without even needing to see so much as a TNT replay of the Quadruple Doink from last year, let alone worrying about having to relive it all over again. Let's keep learning from our experiences and doing the less-painful thing this time, yeah?