That night, Fiserv Forum Arena was packed to the rafters.
The birth of this arena was quite an interesting story.
The Bradley Center, previously used by the Bucks, had been built in 1988. Like Madison Square Garden and Oracle Arena, it was one of the oldest arenas around.
But unlike those other two old arenas, it had barely undergone any renovations. Not only visiting teams, but even the home team constantly complained about the arena environment.
"Playing there feels like going back to the last century."
Back when Kobe was still playing, he had made that very remark after a game.
Because the Bradley Center's owners, the Petits, had been unwilling to pay the hefty costs of renovations, such complaints had surfaced frequently.
Later, the NBA put on pressure and offered three options: renovate, build a new arena, or move the Bucks to Seattle.
In the end, the Wisconsin State Senate chose to build a new arena, resulting in this new venue with a capacity of 17,500.
Though it could not compare in size to the NBA's most elite arenas, its facilities were state-of-the-art, undoubtedly good news for Bucks fans.
The most obvious change was that their home games, which had once struggled with attendance, were now nearly sold out every night.
That also matched the Bucks' current popularity around the league.
The Bucks fans in attendance were exceptionally enthusiastic. Not only were they dressed in matching green T-shirts, but many had even covered their faces and hair in green.
Like the Celtics, green was also their team's primary color.
As the team with the shortest time since winning an NBA championship, the fans were deeply unwilling to accept it.
Especially because they had once possessed the trio of Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen, and Tyrell Brandon, the Three Musketeers, yet