After taking Game 1 by storm, the Milwaukee Bucks seemed to be lacking the same effort in games 2 and 3. Consequently, the Pacers have now taken a 2-1 series lead, defeating them 121-118 in Game 3 recently. Fans of the franchise were never going to be happy with the situation. but apparently, they now blame one player in particular – Brook Lopez. In fact, even Golden State Warriors forward, Draymond Green was left aghast with Lopez’s efforts on the defensive end of the floor.
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Draymond Green took to X(formerly Twitter) to express his disappointment in veteran Lopez, stating one simple line on the matter.
“You 7 foot brotha.”
For the uninitiated, Draymond Green isn’t just shaming Brook Lopez’s defensive presence, but also his rebounding more than anything in this scenario. Listed at 7’1, Lopez has only nabbed a cumulative 9 rebounds in 3 games so far whereas a 6’5 Tyrese Haliburton already has 21.
As for Game 3 specifically, Lopez finished the night with 14 points and just 4 rebounds to go along with it. He also had 3 assists while going 7-12 from the field, shooting with a healthy 58.3% clip, as per StatMuse. But coming back to the rebounding aspect, it seemed as if the rest of the team was having to make up for Lopez as Bobby Portis had 18 rebounds, and even Khris Middleton finished the game with 10 rebounds.
Worse yet, Lopez only grabbed a single rebound in the team’s Game 2 loss to the Indiana Pacers; something that is certainly not expected of a 16-year veteran All-Star center, with an NBA championship under his belt.
With Brook Lopez unable to nab down rebounds as his team needs, the only silver lining of this whole ordeal is the fact that the Bucks have found success in pick-and-rolls involving the big man. As the team continues to play without their leading scorer, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the rest of the Bucks have been stepping up to the occasion. Even Brook Lopez has been generating great offense for his franchise during this playoff series.
In fact, after the Milwaukee Bucks’ heartbreaking loss tonight, even Draymond Green couldn’t help but seemingly root for the team. After Green’s comments on Lopez, the four-time NBA champion even went so far as to give his two cents in the hopes of helping Milwaukee.
“Put Portis on turner. Play at the level of screen and drop with miles. Then you have Lopez at the rim and not Bobby. Game over.”
Whether this matchup works out or not is unsure. But the fact that Green was offering his advice so that the Bucks could have a chance to win this series may be an indicator of which team Draymond is hoping for the best for.
The Indiana Pacers now have a 2-1 lead on the team with the second-best record in the East during the regular season. Can the Bucks rally back? Or will history repeat itself like last year and Milwaukee bounces out of the playoffs in the first round?
