The Milwaukee Bucks have dropped the first two games against the Miami Heat in the second round, but their supporting stars haven’t been responsible.
With the Milwaukee Bucks falling into an 0-2 hole to start their second round series against the Miami Heat, it would be easy to say everything has gone wrong for the East’s No. 1 seed.
The truth is that isn’t quite the case, though. In fact, for as many of the Bucks’ long running weak spots are currently being exposed by Miami, it’s one of the most talked about over the past two years that has been no issue at all.
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Of course, I’m referring to the performances of the Bucks’ supporting stars and the top line Milwaukee players who are asked to complement Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Through two games, it’s Khris Middleton who leads the Bucks in scoring in the series. Averaging 25.5 points per game, Middleton has very much grabbed the initiative, put any of his own first round struggles behind him, and delivered everything that could have been asked of him.
Even better again for Milwaukee, Middleton is grabbing 6.0 rebounds, and dishing out 6.5 assists per game too.
Relative to his usual standards, Brook Lopez has taken his game up a couple of notches more than Middleton has even.
Lopez has been sensational since the Bucks arrived in the Bubble, playing what’s easily his best offensive basketball in close to 18 months, and he has yet to show any sign of that slowing down in the postseason.
In spite of major foul trouble in Game 1, Brook is averaging 20 points per game through the first two contests against the Heat. Most importantly, Brook’s doing that while posting shooting percentages reminiscent of a human flamethrower. With 72.2 percent shooting from the field, 63.6 percent from deep, and 87.5 percent from the free throw line, Brook has been about as close to unstoppable as it gets.
Even further down the pecking order for Milwaukee, after missing Game 1, Eric Bledsoe came out with a very solid performance in Game 2, which is something that they haven’t necessarily been able to rely on in the past two years.
George Hill has also had a strong start to the series, averaging 11 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field, and 42.9 percent from deep.
The Bucks’ rotation players beyond that have been almost universally a disaster, but the most talented players behind Antetokounmpo are delivering on an individual.
That should be both a cause for encouragement and discouragement for Milwaukee.
It gives reason why the series can be turned around still, but it also points to some real positives that have been wasted so far.
With the aforementioned players delivering, it becomes increasingly simple for the Bucks. They need a lot more from Mike Budenholzer and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Both the team’s head coach and superstar player have let them down with their performances to date, and if that doesn’t change, it won’t matter what everyone else does beyond them.