“Without James Harden and now no Kyrie Irving, this will be one of the biggest choke jobs”: Charles Barkley Hints At How Destructive A Playoff Exit Could Be For Giannis Antetokounmpo & Co.

James Harden

James Harden and Kyrie Irving’s injuries are both giving the Milwaukee Bucks a huge opportunity to take out the heavy championship favorites.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is finally at the stage of his career where there are legitimate expectations from his career. He’s been an MVP twice in the league and he’s had the number 1 seed in the regular season. Now, it’s time to cash in on a championship.

Unfortunately, he got the short end of the stick this year when the Bucks got matched up against the Nets big three. However, 4 games later, they find themselves tied 2-2 with James Harden and Kyrie Irving set to miss at least the next game.

Now, if they lose this opportunity, it could be the biggest choke job in NBA history according to Charles Barkley.

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James Harden And Kyrie Irving Out For Game 5, Giannis Antetokounmpo Set To Take Advantage

James Harden? Out. Kyrie Irving? Out. The Milwaukee Bucks will only have to deal with Kevin Durant in a pivotal game 5. The big three is down to a big one. In game 4, Giannis and the Bucks were able to take care of business, taking control of the game once Kyrie left.

They’ll need to do the same if they’re going to make it out of game 5. Durant is a cold-blooded killer, and the Nets are by no-means a cakewalk even without Kyrie and Harden, but the task becomes much easier.

Irving and Durant ran circles around Milwaukee in games 1 and 2 despite Harden missing both games. They cruised on their way to big wins. There was nothing the Bucks defense could do with just two of them.

Game 3 was a little bit of a turning point in the series. With their backs against the wall, staring down the hole at the possibility of a 3-0 deficit, Giannis, Khris Middleton, and the Bucks responded with a physical and impressive 86-83 victory.

Kyrie Irving left early in game 4, and the Bucks were able to contain Durant on his own, tying the series up 2-2. Now it’s on them to take the all important game 5. Statistics have shown that the game 5 winner of a 2-2 series has an 82% chance of advancing.

A win at Brooklyn means Milwaukee would be able to close out the series at home. Injuries have played a vital role this year, and the Nets may have been the most brutally hit team. Their big three played only 8 games together before the playoffs, and now they’re once more not at full strength.

Milwaukee, it’s your time to answer the call. Charles Barkley could be right in saying that this would go down as an ultimate choke-job. You don’t want injuries to occur at all, but when they do, you must take advantage of them.

Also Read: “Michael Jordan made you wonder if there was there any reason for the rest of us to play”: When Hall of Famer John Stockton lauded the Bulls legend and his Dream Team teammate

Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
Basketball Brooklyn Nets Charles Barkley Giannis Antetokounmpo James Harden kyrie irving NBA

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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