Milwaukee Bucks: 4 Keys To Winning Game 5 Against Toronto Raptors
Balancing The Backcourt Rotation
As usually happens in the playoffs (unless your name is Steve Kerr), head coach Jason Kidd has trimmed his rotations in the postseason. Outside of garbage time, he has stuck to a four-man backcourt, with Jason Terry playing just a handful of minutes each half at backup shooting guard.
The balance has been between three players — starters Malcolm Brogdon and Tony Snell along with backup Matthew Dellavedova. Through three games it was Snell relegated to fewer minutes, as Kidd leaned on lineups featuring both Brogdon and Dellavedova.
In Game 4 that changed, as Snell was the only player on the Bucks able to consistently hit shots. Brogdon by contrast struggled, scoring just two points on 1-of-4 shooting.
Dellavedova put up an identical stat line in his 20 minutes, although he was a part of bench units that saw more success than the starters.
More from Hoops Habit
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
Toronto has changed their rotations to feature the formerly excised Norman Powell. The second-year wing out of UCLA was a healthy scratch in Game 2, and on Saturday started and put up a game-high +15 in 34 minutes. Along with Delon Wright receiving more of the backup point guard minutes, the smaller Cory Joseph saw his minutes shrink to just eight.
With the Raptors seeking to mimic the Bucks’ lineup versatility, they are loading their rotation with long wings instead of smaller guards or more plodding big men. While both Brogdon and Dellavedova are long for point guards, they lose their size advantage when asked to defend larger wings.
Jason Kidd will need to decide how he wants to match up against the Raptors, as the key to beating Toronto in the postseason is locking down DeMar DeRozan.
Khris Middleton has the size and athleticism to hang with DeRozan, but that would require a Milwaukee backcourt player to guard either Norman Powell, DeMarre Carroll or P.J. Tucker. That’s a tall ask of a point guard, which means Snell may receive more minutes as the season goes on.
This may be the key decision remaining in the series, as Kidd finds the best combination of defenders to slow down the dynamic Toronto backcourt.