The Milwaukee Bucks overcame a challenging week of travel disruptions caused by a historic winter storm to dominate the Miami Heat 125-96 on Thursday night. Stranded in New Orleans for three days with canceled practices and a postponed game, the team arrived in Milwaukee just two hours before tipoff.
The Milwaukee Bucks showcased their resilience and determination on Thursday night, coming back from an early 15-point deficit to secure a 125-96 victory over the Miami Heat, despite a week of grueling travel delays caused by a winter storm.
The storm stranded the Bucks in New Orleans for three days, preventing them from practicing or maintaining their usual game-day routines. The team arrived in Milwaukee just two hours before tipoff, but they showed no signs of fatigue as they secured their fifth consecutive win.
“Just a strange, long couple of days,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers stated after the game.
The Bucks arrived in New Orleans on Monday ahead of their scheduled game against the Pelicans on Wednesday. However, a foot of snow crippled the city, shutting down roads and leading the NBA to postpone the game. Players found creative ways to stay engaged during the downtime, with Giannis Antetokounmpo dribbling in a hotel ballroom, Damian Lillard binge-watching Netflix, and Bobby Portis organizing card games.
“It felt like it was COVID all over again,” Portis said Thursday night with a laugh. “We were just in the room just chilling.”.
When the team finally left New Orleans on Thursday, the travel ordeal continued. Arriving in Milwaukee with little time to spare, the players agreed to take the court rather than risk rescheduling another game later in the season.
Despite the chaotic preparation, the Bucks’ star players refused to let the travel challenges serve as an excuse.
“As a leader of the team, you got to let the team know off the rip, we not doing that,” said Lillard, who had 29 points and 11 assists and finished one rebound shy of his first Bucks triple-double. “We not having excuses. I don’t care about the flight, I don’t care. We’ve been in a hotel. … Ain’t going to be no excuses tonight, you got to go out here and jump on them like we’ve been doing. And no excuses if something goes wrong, we can’t be looking at it as a crutch or nothing like that.”
Antetokounmpo stated a similar sentiment, highlighting the team’s perseverance. He notched a 25-point triple-double and emphasized the importance of perspective: “The only difference is that we had to take a flight,” Antetokounmpo said. “At the end of the day, if you could call this adversity, I think the team responded very well facing this adversity that we had to take a flight for two hours before the game.”
With their impressive victory against the Heat, the Bucks proved that no matter the obstacles, they are ready to compete—and win—under any circumstances.
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