Milwaukee Bucks: The 3 keys behind their league-leading offense

Second key – Improved efficiency in transition

Getting out and running has been a staple for the Bucks over Mike Budenholzer’s reign in Milwaukee. It certainly helps when you have a one-man fastbreak like Giannis Antetokounmpo who scored 717 combined fast break points over the last two seasons.

To that point, the Bucks have been at the top of the league for the highest frequency of fast break plays for the 2018-19 season and finished second in that department behind the Toronto Raptors last season. They’ve taken the mantle again early on this season and has it come with better efficiency.

Although the Bucks rank second behind the Raptors with 17.5 fast break points per game, their efficiency on such opportunities has greatly improved from just last season. Per Cleaning the Glass ($$), the Bucks are averaging 125.3 points per 100 possessions in transition, a mark that currently ranks 11th in the league. Last season, the Bucks averaged 121 points per 100 possessions in such spots, which ranked 19th in the NBA.

It certainly helps that the Bucks have made excellent use of capitalizing on their opponent’s miscues and rank second with 163.8 points per 100 possessions off steals 11 games into their run this season.

The improved efficiency and the way in which the Bucks are initiating and running their lanes while in transition have given a different twist to what we’ve seen of the Bucks under Budenholzer. It’s clearly paying dividends so far, even as opposing teams continue to get back and wall up against the Bucks as much as they can.