Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly looking to trade small forward Tony Snell during the offseason to relieve some of their salary-cap stress.

According to Gery Woelfel of Woelfel's Press Box, some NBA officials believe the Bucks are "eager" and "desperate" to dump Snell's contract, which will pay him around $11.4 million next season and includes a $12.2 million player option for 2020-21.

The Bucks are on pace to be above the luxury-tax threshold, although finding a way to trade Snell would make things more manageable for general manager Jon Horst.

One NBA executive suggested to Woelfel that Milwaukee will have a difficult time moving Snell considering his contract and lack of production: "He's just not a good value. I know they brought in some guys at his spot like [Pat] Connaughton, but his [Snell's] play has leveled off too. I think the only way they can move him is if they package him with a pick, for instance. But he's already traded two [future] No. 1s, so that won't be easy to do that, either."

In 74 regular-season games in 2018-19, Snell averaged 6.0 points and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from three in 17.6 minutes per game. Overall, that represented his worst production since 2015-16 with the Chicago Bulls.

Snell also hasn't been a factor during Milwaukee's run to the Eastern Conference Finals (nine games, 3.1 MPG). Just two seasons ago, he averaged 10.0 points per game in six playoff outings for the Bucks.

The 2016-17 season was Snell's best from essentially all angles, as he averaged 8.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game during the regular season while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from deep.

He was a key contributor for the Bucks during Jason Kidd's time as head coach, but he has not been a significant part of Mike Budenholzer's rotation. The 27-year-old Snell's career three-point percentage (38.2) suggests there's a role for him somewhere, but moving him may prove difficult.

Giannis Antetokounmpo does a little bit of everything for the Milwaukee Bucks, and he's also beginning to have a larger presence off the court.

Over the last few seasons, the Greek Freak has vaulted himself into superstardom. He's earned three straight All-Star nods, a pair of All-NBA appearances and the Most Improved Player award along the way. He may soon add an MVP award to his mantel, too.

As a result, Antetokounmpo is landing more lucrative contracts for both his basketball and brand value.

           

Contract and Net Worth

The 15th overall pick of the 2013 NBA draft, Antetokounmpo earned approximately $8.6 million on his four-year rookie deal.

His next contract netted far more.

In September 2016, Antetokounmpo signed a four-year, $100 million extension that runs through the 2020-21 campaign. He received $24.2 million this season, and he'll earn $25.8 million and $27.5 million over the ensuing two years, respectively, according to HoopsHype.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzovzN06IC4

According to Celebrity Net Worth, the 24-year-old's current net worth is $40 million. And he's only getting started.

In the likely event Antetokounmpo qualifies for a supermax contract that will begin in July 2021, he could earn more than $40 million annually.

           

Shoe Contract and Endorsements

Before Antetokounmpo even reached the NBA, he signed a shoe deal with Nike. Sounds great, right?

Well, it was worth $25,000 per year and featured a $5,000 signing bonus.

In November 2017, he signed a new contract with Nike. Before he reached that agreement, Matt Velazquez of the Journal Sentinel reported the deal could bring in somewhere between $7-10 million annually. According to Forbes, Antetokounmpo received an estimated $9 million in the first year of his new Nike contract, and he has a signature shoe debuting later this year.

Antetokounmpo has become a prominent figure for several companies, including Hulu and Metro by T-Mobile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1PslUXOfdY

He has also appeared in commercials for Nike, BMO Harris, Aegean Airlines and Milko. Other sponsors include JBL, Tissot, Kronos Food and Chinese television manufacturer TCL Corp.

Expect Antetokounmpo to continue expanding his public brand as he enters the prime of his career.

           

Community Engagement and Philanthropy

Antetokounmpo has participated in multiple Make-A-Wish specials, and he partnered with Dick's Sporting Goods to provide a shopping spree for children from a local Boys & Girls Club.

He also traveled to Manila, the capital of the Phillippines, for a charity event in which the proceeds went to Makati Science High School.

Antetokounmpo serves as an international ambassador for The Hellenic Initiative, a group that provides support to families who are hit hardest by the Greek economic crisis.

In May 2019, Antetokounmpo agreed to fund construction of a basketball court to support a "fire-ravaged area" outside Athens, Greece, according to the Associated Press.

           

Follow Bleacher Report writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo's former agent spoke out Wednesday against Drake's antics during Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Bucks and the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Georgios Dimitropoulos—previously Antetokounmpo's European agent and now the senior director for Octagon Basketball Europe—tweeted, and later deleted, the following regarding Drake:

"Imagine a gig & an athlete on VIP seats, right next to the band, stands up on the stage just to show off during the entire game, knowing cameras are on him, occasionally even massaging the singer. Security & him both allow it. Never seen anything as disrespectful as this before…"

Drake is usually in the thick of things at Raptors games. That was especially true during Toronto's victories over Milwaukee in Games 3 and 4, which evened the series at 2-2 after the Bucks won the first two games at home.

The popular rapper sits next to the Raptors bench and often fraternizes with players. He even touched Raptors head coach Nick Nurse during Game 4.

Drake, who has an official partnership with the team as the Raptors' global ambassador, appeared to heckle Giannis on multiple occasions, and he could be seen laughing at Antetokounmpo's struggles at the free-throw line. The Greek Freak went 6-of-10 from the charity stripe in Game 4 and air-balled a free throw for the second consecutive game.

After finishing with just 12 points in Milwaukee's double-overtime loss in Game 3, Giannis registered 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in Tuesday's 120-102 Game 4 defeat.

The series is set to swing back to Milwaukee for Game 5 on Thursday and will return to Toronto for Game 6 on Saturday, meaning Drake will have at least one more opportunity to cheer on the Raptors live.

Giannis Antetokounmpo isn't worried despite the Milwaukee Bucks dropping Sunday night's Eastern Conference Finals Game 3 118-112 in double overtime to the Toronto Raptors.

"There's so many things that we can get better [at]," the NBA Most Valuable Player finalist told reporters after the loss, "and we will get better. And we're gonna come out in Game 4, and we're gonna be us. We're gonna be the team that we've been all year."

Giannis added that everybody in the Bucks locker room is "really, really hungry." Sunday marked only the second loss for Milwaukee this postseason and first in the series as the Raptors cut the Bucks' series lead to 2-1.

"Even though their leaders had a bad night, they were able to send this game to double overtime."

Giannis on the @Bucks bench. #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/r6OZU3RPsR

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 20, 2019

Prior to fouling out in the second overtime period, the Greek Freak struggled in Game 3 with 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field but pulled down 23 rebounds and dished seven assists.

Giannis' next chance to feast will be Tuesday in Game 4 at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena.

A camera caught Stephen Curry counseling Giannis Antetokounmpo shortly before the 2018 All-Star Game in Los Angeles. Antetokounmpo spent most of their interaction nodding his head, absorbing the words of the two-time MVP.

"You should see that every year you get better and you take the next step," Curry said. "That's what it's all about. That right there." Antetokounmpo responded that he enjoyed watching the Warriors play and they appeared to have fun on the court.

"We say winning is fun, but the way you do it everybody is involved," Curry said. "Obviously, you lead the charge, but you appreciate what everybody brings to the table. As the leader, that's what it's all about."

A little more than a year later, Antetokounmpo appears to be taking that next step. Two games from their first Finals appearance in nearly half a century, the Bucks, and their blossoming superstar, are on the verge of assuming the Eastern Conference title void left by LeBron James. Should Curry's Warriors do as most expect and advance to their fifth straights Finals, there likely won't be any new words of encouragement or the types of highlight-reel assists the two worked on in Charlotte, North Carolina at this year's All-Star Game.

This season, and postseason, has seen Antetokounmpo transition from athletic marvel to fully formed MVP candidate. It would be easy to ascribe that to a set of physical skills that have opponents debating how many defenders to devote between a transcendental player who can travel from half court to the rim in a single dribble and the rest of his sharpshooting teammates, but it would also be incomplete.

For as much as Antetokounmpo has changed as a player in his six NBA seasons, he has matured just as much as leader for these Bucks.

"There's a lot of great competitors in this league," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters before the opening of the Eastern Conference Finals. "And then there's others [where] that competitiveness just is on that next level. It just stands out to you when you talk to [Giannis], when you watch him work and practice. He wants to win. And the great thing about him is I think he's happy when his teammates succeed. He's happy when others are playing well."

Bucks general manager Jon Horst recalled being struck by the way Antetokounmpo and teammate Khris Middleton responded during last season's team exit meetings following Milwaukee's first-round playoff loss to Boston.

The teammates immediately pledged to return to work and avoid a similar fate. In the summer, they organized team workouts and shared excursions away from the court.

"He's done things vocally where when he needs to speak, guys will listen," Horst said. "He's been great at bringing the group together at team events or holding different dinners or different events where the guys will get together. Just being someone in practice that brings everyone together. Being jovial and lighthearted at the right time. Being focused and highly competitive at the right time. He's just adapted and grown, just as his game on the floor has grown and his impact on the floor has grown, I would say his leadership has grown as well."

Middleton explains Antetokounmpo's style succinctly: "He puts his work in, before practice, after practice. He's in the weight room all the time. Guys see that. You've got one of the best players in the league, here doing that all the time, you're going to follow."

---

Steve Novak spent portions of his final two NBA seasons in Milwaukee before retiring in 2017. He now watches the 24-year-old Antetokounmpo from his perch as a television analyst for the Bucks on Fox Sports Wisconsin.

"The growth and his presence as a leader is completely night and day," Novak said. "I feel like he was playing for the Bucks when I was on the team with him, and now he is the Bucks. There's this completely different presence that he has in the last two years that it's his team. He sets the tone. He talks about his guys.

"When I was with him, I think he was just an incredibly hard worker and had it in him, but I think, in his own mind, he still thought of himself as a youngster."

For Novak, watching Antetokounmpo stirs memories of playing alongside Dwyane Wade at Marquette. Then, Novak said, the team never felt out of any game no matter the deficit. They were confident Wade would come through with the clutch basket, the key steal, the extra pass—always the right play at the right time. "Those two guys, in my experience, were able to completely dominate the entire game at any time," Novak said.

Novak thought back to the rare occasions Milwaukee lost throughout the regular season. In a defeat to  Indiana, Antetokounmpo had just 12 points. He returned two nights later to pour in 44 points on 14-of-19 shooting against Cleveland. Then there was a loss to Miami, when he went 3-of-12 with nine points. He followed that one up with a 30-point effort in an easy win over the Knicks.

"This team, they lost two games in a row one time, and that is because of the way Giannis has responded when he or the team has played poorly," Novak said. "I think those performances have been his greatest signs of leadership, that he's going to will this team and lead this team every time that there needs to be a change or an adjustment."

Like his Eurostep, Antetokounmpo needed time and guidance to refine that leadership trait.

Jason Terry spent the final two seasons of his 19-year career in Milwaukee with Antetokounmpo. Every day, Antetokounmpo would pepper Terry with questions about how the Mavericks went about winning a championship when Terry played with Dallas.

What kind of workout did you guys do? What did you eat? How much did you sleep? How did you recover?

"That's what led me to believe that this kid is different," said Terry, now an analyst with Turner. "He's different. He really wants to know the answers to the test so when he takes the test, he will be well prepared, and that is very rare when you're talking about a young superstar in this league. Because a lot of young superstars that I either played with or played against or observed through my years, they're looking at the stat sheet. Wins and losses really doesn't matter to them. They want to know how their peers perceive them and did they get their numbers. And that's just the reality of the situation."

When Terry arrived in Milwaukee, he witnessed Antetokounmpo leading by example. That style carries for only for so long, Terry believes, until a voice needs to follow the actions. Team accountability spreads that way.

Terry would tell Antetokounmpo that there would be times throughout the course of a long season that teammates would tire of his voice. Leaders tell teammates what they need to hear, not only the praise they want to receive. Leaders keep their voices heard, and honesty is eventually appreciated.

"Are you sure?" Antetokounmpo replied, according to Terry. "I can say that?"

"He was so wide-eyed and bushy-tailed," Terry said. "It was just like he felt grateful that a veteran would talk to him and empower him in that way.

It took a little time to find his voice, but experience, and the pain losing in the playoffs can bring, has seen Antetokounmpo become more of a team spokesperson.

Take last season. Expected to challenge Cleveland and LeBron, Milwaukee struggled at times, undergoing a coaching change and finishing as the Eastern Conference's seventh seed. A Boston team without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward shoved aside Milwaukee in a decisive Game 7 victory, 112-96, in the first round, leaving the franchise and its franchise player trying to figure out what went wrong.

"A lot of the guys in the locker room have never been in Game 7s," Antetokounmpo said afterward. "It's a new experience. Now we know now what it takes to win a Game 7. You've got to come out, hit first."

Terry now sees the leadership traits in Antetokounmpo that he spotted in other notable teammates throughout his NBA career: Dirk Nowitzki's work ethic, Kevin Garnett's competitiveness and James Harden's ownership of a franchise.

"[Giannis] would take ownership, and he would be accountable and take accountability in the fact that we didn't play well and it was on him," Terry said. "Those are some of the first great signs of a leader. When you do it in the media, guys are listening. They watch, they see what is written or what's being projected out there on TV But also, having that theme be consistent in the locker room as well. And it was something that, at first, he kind of just wanted to do things by example and not really say much. He would be tight-lipped. But ... into that second season I was there, he really started to take ownership of the leadership role, and he realized that this is his franchise."

Though Nowitzki ostensibly had that title with the Mavericks during Terry's time with them, Jason Kidd also provided a veteran's presence that Terry said was crucial on that 2011 championship team.

And it was Kidd, recently named a Lakers assistant, who shaped Antetokounmpo's early years as the Bucks coach from 2014-18. Early on, he often encouraged Antetokounmpo to explain to teammates how he saw on the court.

"Sometimes as a foreigner—and English is your second language—it sometimes can be nerve-wracking to speak or say something because a teammate could not understand you, so to put yourself out there was something that we tried to do right off the bat, but you could see that he was maybe nervous to say something and also felt like maybe it's not his place to say anything," Kidd said. "He had to earn that. So that's what made the situation special, too—that he wanted to play, but we also wanted him to talk. Because if he talks and understands what he's seeing and shares with his teammates, it just makes the game that much easier for everybody."

Kidd cited Antetokounmpo's ability to play every position as paramount for his understanding of the needs of all of his teammates.

"When we gave him the ball the first time, he wasn't ready," Kidd said. "We talked about it, but the thing that makes him special is when we came back the second time, he was ready and you could see it in his growth and the aspect of the game where he was starting to connect the dots. His study, his work ethic was at a very high level, and it paid off. But those are kind of the things [you need] when you talk about someone wanting to be good or great. He wants to be great, and so he wanted to understand every aspect of the game."

He's also come to understand and embrace the demands of the position.

"It's not easy, it's hard," Antetokounmpo said to reporters after Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. "You've got to be able to lead every single day. Even though you play bad, you play well ... the team has to know that you're going to come out the next day and still lead them. ... But I've had people in my career who have helped me with that—veterans, coaches. At the end of the day, that's my job, and I'm going to keep doing it, win or lose, play bad or play well. That's what I do."

---

Today, few players are as synonymous with an organization as Antetokounmpo is with the Bucks. Milwaukee drafted him in 2013 after he grew up in the Athens neighborhood of Sepolia. He and his brother Thanasis would rotate through the same pair of basketball shoes. They sometimes skipped practices, according to a New York Times story by Ken Maguire, to sell watches, bags and sunglasses to buy food. Oftentimes, they missed out on both.

Antetokounmpo arrived in Milwaukee at 6'9" and less than 200 pounds.               

"He was light as a feather, and because he had such long legs, he couldn't brace himself, so he knew he had to get stronger," said Jim Cleamons, an assistant coach during Antetokounmpo's rookie season.

John Hammond, the general manager who drafted Antetokounmpo, described him as obsessed with hitting the weight room.

"Then, of course, the court [progress] followed that," said Hammond, now Orlando's GM. "He was basically never, ever out of that practice facility. In there almost 24/7, and with a combination of strength training and skill training, it was immediate. That's when you looked at him and thought: Uh-oh. Wow. If he's this, what could he be?"

"If you think about it, very seldom is your best player not your hardest worker," Hammond added. "Those usually go hand in hand. The other real parallel there is that when your best player is also your best person, then you have something special. I think Giannis is a guy that obviously fits in that category as well. Not only a great player, but truly a great young man."

Cleamons coached Michael Jordan in Chicago and Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and he marvels at how far Antetokounmpo has come along and yet still has areas to improve upon.

He chuckled at the little moments he witnessed being introduced to a foreign teenager who would eventually come to take on the NBA.

"He had the little high-pitched voice," Cleamons said. "He hadn't started to mature, and he'd get upset and he'd sound kind of squirrelish, but once again, he did know English. So, he's a versatile kid.

"[When] he learned how to drive, that was really fun. They got him an American driver's license. In Greece, I think they drive on the other side, and the seat had to be back almost in the passenger's lap because he got those long-ass legs."

The coaching staff would repeatedly tell Antetokounmpo not to become Americanized.

"That means thinking that success comes before hard work," Cleamons said. "He had to understand, and he heard enough that first year that he had to put his work in. If he wanted the things that he wanted, it wasn't just going to be show up and voila, wave the magic wand, and he was going to get what he wanted. He accepted that.

"He heard from everybody on the staff, and he started to see the residuals of his work—coming early, staying late, he saw his game grow. ... He's dedicated. He's got a good sense of who he is and how he wants to be good and he's going to be even better."

Almost as important for the Bucks, he's transferred that sense of purpose to his teammates. That Milwaukee was the only team to win 60 games this season was no accident given Antetokounmpo's dominant play and, to hear his teammates tell it, the insatiable motivation he instills in the locker room.

"He has that motor and that will to win," George Hill said. "He wants to win in everything he does—if we're playing shooting games, if we're playing kickball, if we're playing flag football or whatever we're playing. ... And I think that trickles down to every other guy on this team. Whether K-Midd, Bled [Eric Bledsoe], like Sterling [Brown], like Brook [Lopez]. All of us are so competitive in everything we do—from doing anything on the plane, to doing anything in the gym, to free-throw games."

Sounds like Curry's advice was taken to heart.

   

Jonathan Abrams is a senior writer for B/R Mag. A former staff writer at Grantland and sports reporter at the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Abrams is also the best-selling author of All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire—available right here, right now. Follow him on Twitter: @jpdabrams.

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B/R draft expert Jonathan Wasserman joins Howard Beck to discuss Zion Willamson's future in the NBA, why RJ Barrett could be a perfect fit for the Knicks and what the Lakers should do with the No. 4 pick. All that and whole lot more on The Full 48.

Some things are even bigger than playing God’s Plan on the radio.

Milwaukee radio station 103.7 Kiss FM announced it would not play any Drake songs during the Eastern Conference Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors:

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Until the @Bucks beat the @Raptors - we are hereby taking a break from ALL #DRAKE music. We love us some Drake, but right now - we love the #Bucks more! #BreakFromDrake #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/kRAZQnGOWo

— 103.7 KISS-FM (@1037KISSFM) May 14, 2019

Drake is a Toronto native and Raptors fan who is often seen courtside at the team's games. AJ Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today noted 105.7 The Fan FM in Milwaukee elected to join 103.7 Kiss FM in the movement.

It worked for Game 1, as the Bucks took a 1-0 lead with a 108-100 victory over the Raptors. Giannis Antetokounmpo stuffed the stat sheet with 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, while Brook Lopez added 29 points and 11 boards in a clutch performance.

No word on whether the Bucks players decided not to say "started from the bottom, now we're here" if they make the NBA Finals.

While the Milwaukee Bucks opened the Eastern Conference Finals with a 108-100 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, coach Mike Budenholzer wasn't satisfied with his team's performance in Game 1.

"We feel like we can get better," Budenholzer told reporters. "To get this win after pretty significant days without playing, I think, hopefully we'll be better between now and Game 2."

"Hopefully we'll be better between now & Game 2."

Mike Budenholzer after his @Bucks squad take a 1-0 series lead in the ECF. #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/EVNknv5o2Y

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 16, 2019

A big night out of veteran center Brook Lopez (29 points) led the way.

THE LOPEZ GAME.

Brook went off vs. Toronto:

◼️ 29 PTS
◼️ 12-21 FG
◼️ 4-11 3PT
◼️ 4 BLK
◼️ Season-high PTS | Playoff career-high https://t.co/V72nwUagqj

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 16, 2019

MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo added 24 points while also recording 14 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals.

While those two big men combined for 53 points, it wasn't the cleanest overall effort by Milwaukee as a team.

Toronto jumped out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter and would remain in front until the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. In total, the Raptors led for more than 34 consecutive minutes of game time before the two teams fought to the finish.

Ultimately, the Bucks outscored the Raptors 32-17 over the final 12 minutes to pull out the victory.

"They just stick with it." 💪

Mike Budenholzer speaks on the Bucks after they trailed the Raptors for most of Game 1 in the #NBAPlayoffs. pic.twitter.com/1eBeXteUL8

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 16, 2019

Milwaukee shot just 39.8 percent from the floor for the game while making just 11 of 44 attempts (25.0 percent) from three-point range. Meanwhile, it also committed 12 turnovers, leading to 20 Raptors points.

In other words, there is plenty of room for improvement for Budenholzer's squad.

The good news for the Bucks is they didn't let their rough shooting night affect them on the other end of the court. They held the Raptors to 37 percent from the field while giving up just 100 points. As Budenholzer told reporters after the game, "You can bring your defense every night."

Milwaukee did that on Wednesday, but Budenholzer will look to make adjustments in hopes of getting a better all-around performance in Game 2.

Tuesday night brought an easy win to the reigning champs, as the Golden State Warriors easily defeated the Portland Trailblazers 116-94 in Game 1 of the NBA's Western Conference Finals. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson put up monster games with 36 and 26 points, respectively. 

While the West seems to already have a clear winner, the same cannot be said for the East. The Eastern Conference Finals will see the Milwaukee Bucks take on the Toronto Raptors. Here's a look at the Vegas odds, schedule and predictions for Game 1 of the series.

Vegas Odds

The Bucks are 6.5-point favorites over the Raptors with the over/under total at 218.5, per Caesars.

Game 1 Schedule

Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Location: Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee

TV: TNT

Live Stream: TNT app

Predictions

The Eastern Conference Finals are stacking up to be just as exciting as the NBA Finals.

The series will see two of the biggest stars in basketball face off against one another—Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard.

The NBA Finals will begin out East. Bucks and Raptors had league’s two best records. Warriors or Blazers will open in Milwaukee or Toronto.

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 13, 2019

Antetokounmpo stands at 6'11" and towers over opponents, giving him the ability to dunk and block easily. In the postseason, the Greek Freak is averaging 27.4 points per game, 1.6 blocks per game and 11.3 rebounds per game. The power forward is also a team player and recognizes when to give up the ball—averaging 4.4 assists per game in the postseason. 

He is joined by Khris Middleton, who has averaged 21.9 points per game in the last 10 games, on the Bucks. Middleton has shot 46.7 percent beyond the arc in the postseason and can hit threes during crunch time.

Antetokounmpo will be up against an equally impressive basketball player in Leonard. The small forward is averaging a whopping 31.8 points per game in the postseason—putting up 41 in Game 7 against Philadelphia to win 92-90 and move on to the conference finals.

Leonard has added 8.5 rebounds per game and 2.6 assists per game to his repertoire this postseason. He has also been shooting over 40 percent from the three-point line. 

Point guard Kyle Lowry and power forward Pascal Siakam join Leonard for the Raptors. Lowry leads the team with an average of 7.1 assists per game this postseason, while Siakam has averaged over 20 points per game.

Leonard and his squad are going to be tough to beat; however, they don't have an answer to Antetokounmpo. Even Siakam, standing at 6'9", won't be able to properly defend Antetokounmpo due to his sheer size and power. We've watched the Greece native bulldoze his way through some of the best players in the league, and without someone standing face to face with him, he will continue to do so.

The winner of Game 1 wins the series 76.6 percent of the time, according to NBA.com, making this game crucial for both teams. For the Raptors specifically, they will need a win on the road if they want a chance at taking the series from the Bucks.

However, Antetokounmpo and his team were already dealt a tough Game 1 loss against Boston, which they were able to bounce back from. They know it won't be as easy against Leonard and the Raptors, so they're going to come out ready to win. 

Giannis: “Against Boston, you can go down 1-0 and still be fine; but against Toronto, it's hard to be in that spot when you lose the first game in your home.”

— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) May 14, 2019

   

Pick: Milwaukee 118, Toronto 109

    

All stats courtesy of ESPN.

On the eve of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Toronto Raptors, Giannis Antetokounmpo believes the Milwaukee Bucks need to get off to a hot start. 

Per ESPN's Malika Andrews, Antetokounmpo used Milwaukee's previous series against the Boston Celtics as a point of comparison for what the team needs to do differently.

"Against Boston, you can go down 1-0 and still be fine; but against Toronto, it's hard to be in that spot when you lose the first game in your home," he said. 

The Bucks were stunned in Game 1 of the conference semifinals against Boston 112-90, their worst loss of the season. Even though some analysts said the series was over, Milwaukee responded with four straight wins by an average of 16.3 points. 

The Raptors are coming off a hard-fought series win over the Philadelphia 76ers, capped off by Kawhi Leonard's miracle game-winner at the buzzer in Game 7. 

Even though Toronto won't have a lot of rest before the Eastern Conference Finals begin, the team has proved itself all season to be one of the NBA's best and hasn't been fazed by adversity.

The Raptors have made it this far without defensive star OG Anunoby all postseason following an emergency appendectomy on April 11. 

Of course, the Bucks had to play their first eight playoff games without Malcolm Brogdon due to a plantar fascia tear in his right foot. 

Antetokounmpo's confidence and sense of urgency will be essential if the Bucks want to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1973-74. 

Milwaukee will have a chance to prove it's not going to have a letdown when the series begins Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET at Fiserv Forum. 

A representative of the Milwaukee Bucks confirmed the team is looking into the claims of some fans who said their drinks were spiked during an event outside Fiserv Forum on Wednesday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Talis Shelbourne and Annysa Johnson.

Caroline Reinwald of WISN 12 News in Milwaukee reported at least three fans said they drank pre-made beverages at an Absolut Vodka tent and blacked out later in the night.

One fan, Ali Diaz, recounted her experience to Reinwald.

"I turned to my friend and I said, 'Hey, I'm seeing double,' and she looked at me and she said, 'Yeah, me too,'" Diaz said. "A couple minutes later she said, 'Hey, I need to go to the bathroom, I really don't feel good.' She goes to the bathroom and that's the last thing I remember."

Two others echoed the same story, telling Reinwald they have little recollection of the night in question after drinking at the Absolut Vodka tent.

Bucks spokesman Barry Baum said the Bucks "take all matters of safety seriously" while confirming an investigation is underway.

Shelbourne and Johnson reported Milwaukee police didn't receive calls about potentially spiked drinks at the Fiserv Forum party. In addition, nobody visited an emergency room in the surrounding area claiming they may have been drugged at the event.

The Bucks defeated the Boston Celtics on Wednesday to secure a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals, their first conference finals appearance since 2001.