Milwaukee Bucks: Three things we don’t want to see in the Orlando bubble

3. Open 3-pointers for respected shooters in the playoffs

Some of the best defensive teams in the league this year have given up the most 3-point attempts. For a league that’s trending smaller and emphasizing that shot, it’s intriguing to note that there’s a premium on above-the-break attempts.

Milwaukee has allowed 2,510 attempts from deep this year which ranks fourth in the NBA. Opponents are shooting around a league-average mark at 35.6 percent against the Bucks, which ranks eighteenth despite being posting the No. 1 defensive rating by a decent margin. Coach Budenholzer has found a way to orchestrate a dominant interior defense that negates the higher rate of 3-pointers allowed, but when the game intensifies during the playoffs, they need to make sure they aren’t giving up too many 3-pointers.

Milwaukee’s three worse losses came against the San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers this season. In those games, they allowed their opponents to shoot 19-of-35 (54.3 percent), 18-of-37 (48.6 percent) and 21-of-44 (47.7 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc. It’s reasonable to suspect that a mediocre 3-point-shooting team that emphasizes paint protection is going to lose games when its opponent is taking and making a large sum of those long shots. It’s simple math at that point.

Adjusting to the flow of the game and having their players focus on perimeter defense isn’t going to completely disrupt the Bucks’ plans. When Budenholzer notices that opponents are letting threes fly and his team is allowing it, he needs to call an audible. Milwaukee could put together a dangerous 2-3 zone because of the agility of its perimeter defenders and the threat they pose when trapping on the wing.

The aforementioned Brook Lopez is always going to lurk near the rim to alter shots. That adds a safety net for Antetokounmpo to roam the perimeter when shooters get hot.

Giannis is a versatile defender who can give headaches to opponents on the wing. He tends to focus on limiting attempts near the paint. If he were to use his length and quickness to emphasize closing out on shooters, he’ll greatly help his team and probably even swat a few jumpers in the process

This isn’t to say the Bucks need to restructure their entire strategy, but there are still holes to plug and allowing perimeter jumpers at high volumes isn’t going to work in the playoffs.