Milwaukee Bucks Preview: Game 6 vs Toronto Raptors

Major Key For Milwaukee: Surround Giannis With Shooters

When Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the floor, no Bucks who cannot shoot should be out there with him. Giannis is a devastating player when he drives or operates in the pick and roll, but he can’t consistently drive through multiple defenders.

What the Greek Freak can do is look over those defenders and see which Bucks have been left open. Tony Snell, Malcolm Brogdon and Matthew Dellavedova are all making at least one three per game and shooting 41 percent or better from deep this postseason.

Khris Middleton and Thon Maker are struggling from beyond the arc, but either of them are capable of snapping out of their slumps and making a few quick threes. Mirza Teletovic and Jason Terry are similarly slumping, but at this point it’s hard to truly trust either of them to snap out of it.

Greg Monroe is not ever going to be a threat from long-range. He’s a great hustle player to bring off of the bench, but his lack of a three-point shot allows the Raptors to clog the paint when he’s on the floor.

The Bucks two most-played lineups this postseason feature four of the same five players: Giannis, Middleton, Snell and Brogdon. The version of this lineup with Monroe has been outscored by 3.4 points per 100 possessions.

That same lineup except with Thon Maker substituted for Monroe has outscored the Raptors by 4.1 points per 100 possessions. That’s a 7.5 point shift, and one the Bucks can’t afford to make in this deciding Game 6.

Giannis and Monroe minutes in general haven’t been great. When those two share the floor, the Bucks just barely get outscored by a 0.1 points per 100 possessions margin. That might as well be playing to a draw with Toronto–something the Bucks can’t afford to do in Giannis minutes.