Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from Game 4 vs. Celtics

2. The bench was huge

For most of the year, the Milwaukee bench has been the source of much debate. The starting unit, particularly Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Eric Bledsoe were playing well, but the bench could not sustain the production. This led to too many losses in games that should have been won.

This has turned around in a major way in the past two games. Coincidentally, this is when Thon Maker and Matthew Dellavedova started getting good minutes.

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As mentioned before, Parker, who is a starting quality player, was huge again with his 16 points and seven rebounds. Tony Snell only played 19 minutes and collected three points, two rebounds and three assists. In his time on the court, the Bucks were +11.

Matthew Dellavedova played only 17 minutes and had a stat line of four points, four assists, three rebounds and one steal. The Bucks were +12 with him on the court. However, it is the steal I want to focus on.

With 1.2 seconds left to the end of the first period, the Celtics rolled the ball in. The clock doesn’t start until someone touches it, so they were trying to get the ball as far up the court to give them the best look at the hoop. Dellavedova swooped in for the steal and with the last play of the period, scored on a finger roll.

This is the sort of heads up play that wins games for teams. The Bucks only won by two points, so it goes to show that every play is crucial to the end result.