The Milwaukee Bucks won their fifth straight on Monday night, defeating the Washington Wizards 142-129. Fans are already past that and looking forward to a highly-anticipated matchup on Wednesday night.
Milwaukee Bucks Will Reunite With Jrue Holiday
It’s a reunion Bucks fans have been waiting for since the trade happened in September that brought Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers, and sent fan-favorite Jrue Holiday to the Boston Celtics.
The Bucks will go against the Boston Celtics and Jrue Holiday for the first time this season in what could be a preview for an end-of-season brawl between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.
Khris Middleton told Melanie Ricks, sideline reporter for the Milwaukee Bucks following their win on Monday that he’s excited for the big game coming up.
“It’s going to be a big game, against a really good team, and against our former teammate Jrue, it’s going to be a fun game.”
Currently, Boston holds the No.1 spot in the Eastern Conference with a league-best 11-3 record. The Bucks aren’t far behind, however, sitting at 10-3 and third place behind a 10-3 Philadelphia 76ers.
It’ll be a bittersweet, yet interesting reunion with Bucks’ former top-defender Jrue Holiday. Holiday played a key role in his three seasons with Milwaukee, including helping the team bring home a championship in 2021. He has been a big contributor for Boston since he’s switched shades of green this season. He’s averaging 12.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.2 assists.
The Celtics are coming off a disappointing 118-121 loss to the Charlotte Hornets in overtime, and the Bucks are on a five-game winning streak. They’re hoping to keep that alive as they square up with the Celtics at TD Garden.
Bucks Players Sound off on Seeing Jrue Holiday
A handful of Bucks players were asked about their emotions with seeing Jrue Holiday for the first time since the trade, and let’s just say…it’s going to be interesting.
“Awkwarrrrd,” Bobby Portis said with a slight laugh when asked about Jrue Holiday and Boston. “Awkwarrrdddd.”
As Brook Lopez thought about the reunion, Jim Owczarski of the Journal Sentinel said Lopez spread his arms across a couple of chairs and sat in silence as he came up with an answer. Of the 2021 championship core, the only “OG” members that remain are Lopez, Connaughton, Portis, Middleton, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Lopez told Owczarski that it’s going to be different playing against Holiday.
“He’s such a special person and means so much to me and obviously the team and the city,” Lopez said. “It’s definitely not going to be just like playing any other previous teammate. It’s definitely going to be different.”
Middleton said that it’s more personal going against the Celtics because Holiday was such an important member of the 2021 championship Bucks team.
“It’s more personal. Just ’cause how he was with everybody on and off the court. He was a guy that was a good friend to a lot of people,” Middleton said. “A brother in so many ways to different people. So to see him on the other side is definitely going to be weird.”
Middleton shared a lot of time with Holiday as a teammate, which allowed him to be more close to him and makes this reunion much more emotional for him.
“I think it’s just weird the fact that he’s on the other side, all the things he went through with us during his three years,” Middleton says. “The conversations we had. The late night convos. That type of stuff. About basketball, family, and other issues.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo had a chance to speak with Holiday following the trade, but still expressed that it’s going to be strange seeing Holiday in a different uniform.
“It’s going to be really strange. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to do what you gotta do. It’s going to be strange seeing one of my brothers playing in a different jersey, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. It’s going to be weird for him to see us playing against us, too. We’ll see. We’ll see how it goes.”
For More Wisconsin Sports:
Follow me on Twitter at @sarahspooon and follow us at @WiSportsHeroics. You can also reach out to Sarah via email at sarahspooon@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Wisconsin sports, click here! We cover the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers, and High School sports!
