The Milwaukee Bucks knew the key to tying the Eastern Conference finals was making sure Trae Young didn’t take over again.
Follow Us
On Friday, the Milwaukee Bucks issued an emphatic response to their NBA 2021 play-off Game 1 loss against the Atlanta Hawks. They throttled the Hawks, 125-91, in a game that was done and dusted before halftime. The series is now tied 1-1 as we head to Atlanta for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the charge for Bucks with 25 points. Meanwhile, all three Bucks stars shot well from the field as Jrue Holiday contributed 22 points to go along with Khris Middleton’s 15.
The Greek Freak was in attack mode:
25 PTS | 9 REB | 6 AST | 2 STL | 11/18 FG pic.twitter.com/QWeGjtm9Gv
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) June 26, 2021
On the other hand, no Hawk managed to top Middleton’s 15-point total as Trae Young led the Hawks with exactly that many. John Collins was the only Hawks starter to shoot above 50 percent, and the entire team went cold from the three-point land.
The series will now be shifting to Atlanta for the next two games, with Game 3 on Sunday. Milwaukee reclaimed the momentum with a dominant performance. Similarly in the last round, Atlanta lost Game 2 in Philadelphia after winning Game 1. The Hawks won that series, and they won’t let the Bucks walkover them without a fight.
Giannis & Jrue lift the @Bucks in Game 2! #ThatsGame #NBAPlayoffs@Giannis_An34: 25 PTS, 9 REB, 6 AST@Jrue_Holiday11: 22 PTS, 7 AST
Game 3 – Sunday, 8:30pm/et, TNT pic.twitter.com/DT8ipwUyZ6
— NBA (@NBA) June 26, 2021
In Game 1, the Bucks shot 8 of 36 from behind the arc in a three-point loss. In Game 2, they nearly matched their Game 1 total in the first quarter by making seven three-pointers. They finished with 15. If the game had been competitive in the second half, they likely would’ve touched 20. They made 36.6 percent of their three-pointers, well below their average of 38.9 percent in the regular season, and they still managed to blow the Hawks out.
Trae Young scored 48 points in Game 1, so the Bucks responded with a defensive strategy to stop him. They ignored other shooters from the Hawks. Bucks’ screen defenders proactively attacked Young in space rather than waiting for him at the basket. The Bucks then took a risk of letting the rest of the Atlanta’s shooters open, and it paid off.
Young led the Hawks with 15 points but none of his teammates topped 12 shooting 25 percent from behind the arc. Bogdanovic is so hobbled that he attempted only 12 shots across two games in this series. He averaged 12.8 shots per game in the regular season.
The Bucks are not only the better team, they’re the healthier one. With only Donte DiVincenzo out, they are clearly the second-healthiest team left behind the fully intact Phoenix Suns. It’s sad that at this stage in the playoffs, health might be the deciding factor.
