Giannis on Bucks' elimination by Celtics: 'We thought we were the better team'

For the second year in a row, the Milwaukee Bucks were sent packing in the first round of the playoffs by a team Giannis Antetokounmpo believed was inferior.

The Bucks fell 112-96 to the Boston Celtics in Saturday's Game 7, despite having the best player in the series and facing a team without stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward due to injury.

Asked if Milwaukee felt a sense of pride pushing the No. 2 seed Celtics to seven games, Antetokounmpo instead expressed disappointment.

"We thought we were the better team, but unfortunately we cannot move to the second round. It was a good series, but we thought we were the better team," he said.

Related: Celtics extend Bucks' playoff woes, draw Sixers in 2nd round

Antetokounmpo said the exact same thing after the Bucks were eliminated by the Toronto Raptors in six games during the opening round of the 2017 playoffs. In total, he's made three playoff appearances, all of which have ended in first-round exits.

Of course, the two-time All-Star is the last one to blame for Milwaukee's failures. He admitted he did everything he could to win the series, but fell short despite leading his team in points (25.7), rebounds (9.6), assists (6.3), and steals (1.4) in over 40 minutes per outing.

Antetokounmpo called the Game 7 defeat a learning experience and said his seventh-seeded team will try to come back better next season.