Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 115-104 Game 1 loss to Miami Heat

Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 115-104 Game 1 loss to Miami Heat – Giannis’ Game 1 slog

After an exceptional first round series against the Orlando Magic, Game 1 against the Heat was a real slog for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

As they have done in the past, the Heat did a tremendous job of making life difficult, but it’s also true to say that Giannis didn’t make life any easier for himself on the night.

For as much as Bucks fans would have liked to see him play more than he did, given the severity of his first half foul trouble, 37 minutes was far from an insignificant return for Giannis. The bigger problem is the fact the Bucks were a team-worst -14 in the reigning MVP’s minutes.

That kind of deficit in Giannis’ minutes is obviously untenable, and will require greater creativity from coach Mike Budenholzer, and a more concerted effort to create opening from Antetokounmpo’s teammates.

Still, Giannis also needs to take responsibility. His free throw struggles are no secret, but 4-of-12 in a game of this magnitude is unacceptable. Antetokounmpo may not have got the most favorable whistle on Monday, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t a couple of brainless fouls that could have been avoided in the mix.

For as much as the Heat were successful in walling off Giannis, there were plenty of moments when he could have built up a head of steam and attacked Jae Crowder one-on-one before the help could arrive, only to settle for a pull-up jumper of pass the ball off.

If lessons were learned from the Conference Finals, Giannis should know that he needs to still drive toward the bodies regularly, then giving himself a chance to make plays, even as a passer, from there.

The Bucks can get Giannis much better looks than he saw in Game 1, but the onus also falls on him to improve significantly upon this opening effort.