Milwaukee Bucks: Malcolm Brogdon’s return already paying dividends

Having made his return from a plantar fascia injury, Malcolm Brogdon hasn’t sported any signs of rust and is quickly getting back up to speed midway through the Milwaukee Bucks’ sterling playoff run.

As they continue to add to their dominant run in the postseason, there hasn’t been a shortage of moments for nearly everyone seeing regular time on the Milwaukee Bucks to get their shine this time of year.

Of course, superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo will continue to command any and all coverage based on his otherworldly talents and game-breaking performances. The same goes, although on a more secondary scale, for the rock solid contributors within the starting lineup between Eric Bledsoe, Brook Lopez and All-Star swingman Khris Middleton.

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In fact, it was Lopez’s turn to take center stage with his massive 29-point performance that served as a primary catalyst behind the Bucks’ Game 1 comeback win over the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night.

But it’s gone all down to the likes of Pat Connaughton and George Hill, leaving the Bucks’ collective depth and bench mob to soak up the spotlight as they continue to reinforce their regular season success into the playoffs.

Needless to say, it was far from what was the general consensus envisioned when the Bucks lost starting 2-guard Malcolm Brogdon to a plantar fascia injury in mid-March, an ailment that sidelined him for nearly two months.

Brogdon’s heel injury put an end to what was a career year for the 2017 Rookie of the Year as he averaged 15.5 points while posting shooting splits of .505/.426/.928, which gave him entry into the 50-40-90 club due to having met enough appearances for the year (64).

Losing both a dynamic catch-and-shoot marksman as well as a player who has become a lethal dribble drive threat like Brogdon has was not an easy void for the Bucks to cover initially, all of which spoke to how well rounded of a cog he’s become to the Bucks’ reshaped offense this year under head coach Mike Budenholzer.

For all those reasons, it was understandable why there was so much speculation and intrigue over when Brogdon would make his return midway through the Bucks’ playoff run, even as they had shown that they had stabilized from their Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics in the second round.

Since returning in the Bucks’ series closing victory over the Celtics, however, Brogdon hasn’t resembled a player who’s coming back into the fold after such a lengthy layoff.

Small sample size, obviously, but Brogdon’s already averaging 12.5 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field (52.9 percent) and 4-of-9 from three (44.4 percent), along with 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in his two appearances so far in the Bucks’ playoff run. Over those two games, Brogdon has posted an incredible +39.7 net rating in his 43 minutes of play, per NBA.com/stats.

It was Brogdon’s deadeye shooting and three triples held the Bucks afloat throughout what was a miserable shooting night in Game 1 of their Conference Finals series before Lopez’s three-point outburst in their fourth quarter comeback.

What may be even more impressive is Brogdon’s return has instantly solidified what had been the Bucks’ mainstay starting lineup before he went down between himself, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton. Again, small sample alert, but the five-man unit posted a 107.3 net rating in the four minutes that they all saw the floor together in the Bucks’ Game 1 comeback victory over the Raptors Wednesday night.

As much as his instant offense is highly regarded, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer has already tasked Brogdon with a crucial defensive assignment upon his return, that being checking Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard.

Like ESPN’s Zach Lowe detailed earlier this week, Brogdon’s guarding of Leonard hasn’t been anything new to what the Bucks did throughout their regular season series. And like the four games they faced off against each other, Brogdon’s defending of Leonard in Game 1 resulted in the 2014 Finals MVP scoring just 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field in the 26 possessions Brogdon was matched up on the 27-year-old.

It’s hard to view someone of Brogdon’s qualities as a luxury to the run the Bucks have been on throughout the postseason, considering just how significant he was to the team’s success before he went down with his injury.

But with the Bucks resembling a well oiled machine as a whole host of contributors have rounded into form at such a critical time, seeing Brogdon get back up to speed instantly is just the cherry on top to a team that has already proven to be quite dangerous.