Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from dominant sweep over Heat
Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from dominant sweep over Heat – Each Buck continues to maximize role throughout postseason
Avenging the Heat in steamrolling fashion was a complete team effort for the Milwaukee Bucks with every single impact player consistently thriving in their respective role. Each Buck in the rotation seemed to maximize their role, which led to efficient execution and comfortable composure that brought out the best of them.
As previously written about, Jrue Holiday was the MVP for the Bucks in this series with his two-way abilities and poise to take control. Holiday averaged 15.3 points, 9.8 assists, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game with an astonishing overall plus/minus of plus-98 (team-high by far) during the sweep, and Miami just never had an answer for limiting his impact.
Khris Middleton was the hero in Game 1, hitting the game-winner with 0.5 seconds left in overtime, and didn’t stop knocking down shots from there. Middleton kept shooting with great confidence and averaged 21.5 points per game on 49.2/40.7/89.5 shooting splits throughout the series. He’s a gifted, still underrated scorer and playmaker too, and that was on full display against the Heat.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was much more decisive against Miami’s defensive wall compared to last season, which was one of the big storylines entering this matchup. Antetokounmpo’s patience, ball distribution, and defense on Jimmy Butler were the highlights of his overall performance this series rather than his scoring. Milwaukee’s superstar forward only averaged 23.5 points per game as he struggled to shoot from outside the paint, but also tallied 7.8 assists per game, including that playoff career-high 15 assists in Game 4, and gathered 15.0 rebounds per game.
Despite Giannis not coming close to his regular-season average of 28.1 points per game, he did everything else to make plays for his teammates while his threatful presence still caused plenty of problems for the Heat. When Miami would send help-defenders to form that wall as he penetrated toward the rim, Antetokounmpo’s improved decisiveness allowed him to patiently find his open teammate instead of trying to go right through it like previous years. Evidently, guys like Middleton and Bryn Forbes were able to take advantage of that by nailing those open 3’s that Giannis would create for them. It was an excellent recipe for success offensively.
While Antetokounmpo’s presence was dominant in the paint on both ends of the floor, his front court mate may have been even more impressive. Brook Lopez absolutely maximized his role against Miami by aggressively affecting shots, owning the glass, and scoring in the paint at a highly efficient rate. Game 4 was a perfect example of his impact as he dropped a game-high 25 points on 73.3 percent field goals, grabbed eight rebounds (3 offensive rebounds), and rejected two shots.
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Other than Milwaukee’s star trio, Brook Lopez was the main difference maker in this first-round series. He’ll continue to play a massive role for the Bucks and how they operate within their schemes moving forward.
The secret weapon for the Bucks was Bryn Forbes, but he’s no secret anymore. Forbes lit it up against Miami, most notably scoring 22 points behind 6 3’s in Game 2 and draining 7 3’s to drop 22 points again in Game 4. In fact, he outscored Jimmy Butler 60-58 in this series while playing significantly less minutes. Forbes has identified himself as a certified flamethrower on the playoff stage, which is exactly what his role should consist of off the bench.
We could go on and on about the other role players on the Bucks that all influenced this series such as the energy and relentlessness of Bobby Portis, the toughness, communication, and magnificent defense of P.J. Tucker, and some of the key plays that Pat Connaughton made, but it’s pretty clear how each man in Milwaukee’s rotation maximized their expected role. As a result, it was no surprise to see the Bucks obliterate Miami in this series.
The ankle injury of Donte DiVincenzo that will sideline him for the rest of the playoffs will be a huge loss, especially in a series against Brooklyn, so these role players must continue to maximize their role if the Bucks want to reach the ultimate goal of an NBA championship. Each Buck certainly did just that throughout the satisfactory sweep of the Heat.