Why the Milwaukee Bucks must continue to push themselves
How did the Milwaukee Bucks surge in the second half?
Many factors helped the Milwaukee Bucks in the second half of the game to grind out the win, but it started with effort. The Heat initially seemed to be working harder on almost every possession, and the Bucks began the game similar to the way they started against the weakened Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
Milwaukee wasn’t playing with enough urgency or intensity, and the results were showing. Bucks’ All-Star wing Khris Middleton explained during his postgame press conference that the team discussed raising the level of effort at halftime.
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When asked about what got them back into the game, Middleton said:
"“It was just effort. I mean, we all spoke about it, and I think we realized that we just weren’t playing our best basketball. You know, we were one or two steps behind everything, so the main focus coming out of halftime was just play harder, play better, and everything on their end was way too easy and we weren’t being ourselves.”"
Needless to say, it seemed as if the Milwaukee Bucks did indeed play much harder and as a result, played much better throughout the second half. The Bucks are most dangerous when they’re playing with a larger sense of urgency, moving with more pace, and raising the level of aggressiveness. They executed that after halftime and it obviously paid off.
Other than effort between the players, Mike Budenholzer and the coaching staff did an excellent job making adjustments coming out of halftime, especially defensively. They turned more of their attention to forcing Miami’s perimeter shooters into the interior, which mainly stalled their decision-making and caused more turnovers.
The Bucks would incredibly outscore Miami 74-43 in the second half. It may have taken an entire half for the Bucks to start making adjustments, raise the effort, hold each other accountable, and execute on both ends of the floor effectively, but they got the job done in the end.
Although, the Miami Heat could still serve as a threat to the Bucks in the playoffs since they could easily be a potential second-round matchup. Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke more about the Heat as a challenge moving forward.