Milwaukee Bucks: Late game inexperience on full display in Conference Finals series

There were plenty of reasons for why the Milwaukee Bucks’ season came to a crashing end in their Conference Finals series loss to the Toronto Raptors. Among them was their collective struggles in clutch situations.

What was a magical and synergistic season for the Milwaukee Bucks ended in heartbreak and disappointment in their Eastern Conference Finals clash against the Toronto Raptors.

The Bucks’ series collapse still stings in the hearts and minds of all Bucks fans everywhere after the Raptors hammered home the final nail in the Bucks’ proverbial coffin in Game 6 Saturday night.

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It certainly won’t be easy to wash that disappointment away, considering the long, arduous years that preceded this season, and looking back on what exactly went wrong for the Bucks following Game 2 in the series will be tough to stomach until they can avenge their Conference Finals loss any time soon.

Among the most significant causes behind the Bucks’ series meltdown against the Raptors, though, was their struggles in clutch situations and their collective playoff inexperience.

For as well drilled as the Bucks were with the number of habits they built throughout the season under head coach Mike Budenholzer, it was quite baffling to see how the team as a whole was largely undone by the very things they had preached and had been critical to their 60-win season and deep playoff run.

Failing to corral misses and subsequently giving up offensive rebounds to the Raptors or struggling to execute offensively and turning the ball over on a crucial offensive possession was an all-too-common sight to see with the game on the line.

To those points, in the 29 minutes that qualified as clutch time situations according to NBA.com/stats, the Bucks surrendered 20 second chance points on 10 offensive rebounds after they posted a 60 percent defensive rebounding percentage over those four games. Additionally, the Raptors managed to score 14 points on the nine turnovers they forced the Bucks to commit in late game scenarios throughout the series.

Simply put, the combination of those two things are the stuff that give all coaches fits and slim the margins even further than just failing to put the ball in the basket on the most basic possessions.

What made matters worse for the Bucks was that three of their most significant shot creators between superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton all struggled when the spotlight was the brightest late in games.

That trio combined to score 15 points on 5-of-24 shooting (1-of-8 from deep, the lone make supplied by Antetokounmpo) in the 63 combined clutch minutes they recorded (Bledsoe failed to hit on any of his seven tries from the field during clutch minutes, but did manage to swing three free throw makes).

It was veteran big man Brook Lopez who ended up carrying the baton for the Bucks in late game situations as seen by his own individual comeback attempts in Games 1 and 6. The 31-year-old scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting (2-of-4 from downtown, 4-of-4 from the free throw line) in his team-leading 29 clutch minutes.

Lopez, along with fellow veteran George Hill, provided a much needed steadying presence for the Bucks as Antetokounmpo, Bledsoe and Middleton worked hard, but struggled to create quality looks to swing contests late in the Bucks’ favor.

That obviously contrasted the go-to scoring prowess Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard fully showcased throughout the series. While far from efficient (6-of-19 shooting, 1-of-5 from three), the 27-year-old scored a team-leading 24 points during his 29 clutch time minutes, which was helped by his 11-of-12 shooting from the free throw line during high leverage situations.

Again, it’s far from the sole reason behind why the Bucks endured their series downfall. But it serves as a microcosm for how the Bucks buckled under the greatest of pressures, judging by their -10.3 net rating in those 29 clutch minutes.

For all of the concerns many of the skeptics or doubters had in regards to the Bucks’ successful season, their overall ineffectiveness that reared its ugly head during close late game situations arguably proved to be the most truthful in the end.

And it will be the biggest learning experience for all those involved that had never gotten as far as the Bucks previously went in the playoffs prior to this year.