NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HAWKS VS. BUCKS

June 29, 2021

Mike Budenholzer

Milwaukee Bucks

Game 4: Postgame

Atlanta Hawks 110, Milwaukee Bucks 88.

Q. Any further updates on Giannis, looks like a knee hyperextension?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, so that it. That’s all I know.

Q. Were you able to see him or talk to him at all?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, you know, he's in the locker room with the guys and just addressed the group. You know, but nothing above and beyond. We'll see how he is tomorrow.

Q. I guess along those lines, there's time to take as he comes off and sub and you have to do a time-out to regroup as a coach and they go on a 15-0 run after that. What did you sense then? Seems obvious, the momentum changed but what did you see from your team and the way the Hawks responded?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: They had a lot of guys play well tonight, for really the whole game. So credit to Atlanta. They played well from the start. They played well coming off the injury. You know, so we've got to be better on both ends. Our group will gather. Our group, the character of it will come through and we're going home, it's 2-2. We're going back to Milwaukee.

Q. Did Giannis get any imaging done tonight?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: No, not that I'm aware of.

Q. And secondly, when he left, did you see that as a momentum swing in terms of physical scheming or was that sort of a mental thing for the guys? What did you see from when he exited?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: You know, I think we made some headway to start the third quarter. So I think the guys were good coming out of the locker room. But you know, overall, I think whether it was before the injury, after the injury, credit to Atlanta how they played tonight. And so we've just got to be better for the whole game.

Q. What did you see as it happened? Did you see it? Did you know that it happened in the moment?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: No, I mean, I think the lob to Capela and he went to contest the lob, and it just looked like their legs got tangled up where they both landed awkwardly. That's what I saw live. I haven't seen anything else.

Q. For you, you guys are two games away from the Finals. That's the closest you've been to an NBA Finals here in Milwaukee. Now you're looking at your superstar down the floor injured; that's the highest high to the lowest low. How do you get the guys together and continue forward with such an extreme gap in emotions?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: We'll just take everything as it comes. We'll evaluate it, and we've got a heck of a team, a heck of a roster. The guys will be ready to compete and play. That's what it's about.

So we've got a Game 5. We'll watch the film. We'll prepare. We'll get ready. The guys love competing. They love playing. That's what it's all about.

Q. Even before the injury, Khris was having a rough night with turnovers, physicality, and Jrue having a rough night as well. How do you expect those two to progress going forward?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I mean, they have both played well. I think they are both great players. We'll figure out how we can help them and they help themselves a little bit. I think it's something to look at and work to improve ongoing into Game 5.

Q. It seemed like Giannis had started to exert himself in the start of the third quarter, is that something you saw or talked to him about going into halftime before the injury?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, at halftime, we felt like we could come out and just do it possession by possession, get some stops. You know, just manage the game from the half going forward. We did have a good start to the third quarter. You know, so we've got to do it from the beginning and gather and call on our character to get ready and play Game 5.

Q. Emotionally, what did you see from the guys during that time-out where you're trying to figure out if Giannis is on the floor, is he going to come back up, he walked down to the bench and walked back to the locker room. What did you see emotionally from your players in the in-between time?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: They are competing trying to play a game. Obviously Giannis is a big part of our soul and our fiber. I'm sure there's the human element where the concern, care, for him is real. But they are in the heat of the battle. They are playing. They are competing. They are trying to get stops, trying to get rebounds, trying to do things, trying to find a way to be there for him while he's not able to be on the court, and I'm sure that's what they will do.

Q. What did you see from your guys early on when they jumped to the early lead, had a 15-point lead? Did you think you were playing with the kind of purpose that you needed them to play?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: You know, I think we'll look at it and we'll feel like we could have been better to start with. But at the end of the first quarter, I think it was 25-22.

So again, we didn't start well in Game 3 and here had a similar start tonight. But to manage it and get to 25-22 at the end of the quarter, but second quarter kind of got away from us again. So we have to do it for the 48, all the little winning things that go into it on both ends of the court. So we've got to work on that.

Q. Giannis did come back to the berth briefly. Was he there to express a message to his teammates or be present or what was going on there?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, I don't want to speak for him. I know just historically it's impossible to keep him off the court. It's impossible to keep him away from his teammates, keep him away from his team.

So my guess is he probably wants to play and trying to play, and if not, let his teammates know that he's there for them.

Thanks, guys.