Tougher challenge awaits defending champ Milwaukee Bucks in 2nd round

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo gets past Chicago Bulls' Ayo Dosunmu...

After a bumpy beginning to their postseason, the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks rediscovered their championship form in plenty of time to dispose of the Chicago Bulls in their opening-round series.

They likely won’t make it past the next round unless they’re playing at this level right from the start.

The Bucks next face the sizzling Boston Celtics, who swept the Brooklyn Nets in the opening round. Their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup begins Sunday in Boston.

“They’re the hottest team in the league,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Wednesday after the Bucks’ 116-100 series-clinching Game 5 victory over the Chicago Bulls. “You’d have to be in a cave to not know they’re winning every game. They’re the best defense in the league, got great players, great coaching.”

The Bucks don’t expect to have three-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton available for the start of the series.

Middleton sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in Game 2 of the Bulls series and said Friday he hoped to return in two weeks. That timeline would signal a potential return in Game 3 of the Celtics series May 7 in Milwaukee.

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