Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Loss To Cleveland Cavaliers

By Ti Windisch | Dec 21, 2016

Dec 20, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) grabs a rebound with help from forward Richard Jefferson (24) against Milwaukee Bucks guard Tony Snell (21) in overtime at BMO Harris Bradley Center. James scored 34 points to help the Cavaliers beat the Bucks 114-108. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /

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Dec 20, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) gets pressure from Cleveland Cavaliers forward Channing Frye (8) in the third quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /

Playing Inside Out

Everybody loves three-point shooting these days. Three is worth more than two after all, and analytics are very important to understanding and winning NBA basketball.

Most teams can’t just start by chucking threes, though. Defenses will be spread out around good shooters until they have a reason not to be. That reason, especially for the Bucks, has to be because the team is scoring buckets inside.

Milwaukee’s offense opens up when Giannis and Jabari are making noise inside, because it forces defenders to leave players like Matthew Dellavedova, Tony Snell, Malcolm Brogdon and Mirza Teletovic alone beyond the arc. That’s when the threes can start pouring in.

It’s a two-step process though, and the Bucks got a bit ahead of themselves. Milwaukee wasn’t getting inside in the first quarter at all, even though Cleveland had gone small without Love. Settling for jumpers allowed the Cavaliers to build a huge lead early that the Bucks had to fight back from.

Shooting threes is important, but Milwaukee needs to do some work inside to make it easier for those shooters to operate.

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