Offense
Kyle Lowry enters this series coming off the best offensive season of his career. Lowry has long established himself as one of the league’s best point guards both in terms of scoring and distribution, but he took his game to new heights on that end this year.
Lowry set career-highs in points per game (22.4), field goal percentage (46.4 percent), three-point percentage (41.2 percent), true shooting percentage (62.3 percent) and offensive rating (112.8) over the course of 60 games, while also having the second best season of his career in terms of assists per game (7.0).
Lowry offers the dual threat of being comfortable knocking down shots from outside, as well as possessing the ability to turn the jets on, catch his opponent flat-footed and get to the rim where he boasts a deft finishing touch.
If Lowry catches fire at any point in the series, it could very quickly become a ‘pick your poison’ kind of scenario for the Bucks. Although giving up driving lanes to Lowry is far from ideal, considering how the Bucks’ three-point defense has collapsed at points this season, it may be a more palatable option than allowing a high-volume and high-percentage shooter from distance to get in rhythm.
Much like his teammate Tony Snell, Malcolm Brogdon will enter this series flying much further under the radar, but coming off the back of a season where he has been quietly impressive on the offensive end.
The former Virginia Cavalier finished his rookie season shooting 40.4 percent from behind the three-point line, and barring an unexplained slump would seem likely to be comfortable taking that shot regardless of position on the court. Brogdon shot 48.9 percent on corner threes for the year, while still making a respectable 37.1 percent from above the break.
Brogdon has had a knack for getting great looks from distance throughout the season, in spite of a slightly suspect looking shooting form. This can mostly be attributed to his fondness for working with Giannis Antetokounmpo in the pick-and-roll. The Greek Freak assisted on more of Brogdon’s buckets than any other Buck, and if he finds any success driving to the rim against the Raptors, that will likely also lead to greater opportunities for Brogdon.
The Bucks’ rookie is more than just an outside shooter, though. Brogdon is a highly efficient playmaker, who boasted an assist to turnover ratio of 2.81 on the year. That was good enough to leave him ranked 18th among all NBA players who played over 50 games.
Brogdon has also improved as a driver as the season has gone on. Milwaukee’s regular season finale against the Celtics saw Brogdon use an excellent turn of pace to take Avery Bradley to the rim on a number of occasions. Even against exceptional guard defenders like Bradley and to a lesser extent Lowry, Brogdon possesses the size, strength and intelligence to get to the basket and then use his body to create quality looks.
All eyes will be on Lowry in this particular matchup, but don’t put it past Brogdon to have a couple of standout offensive performances.