Milwaukee Bucks: How the Big 3 has performed against top contenders
By Dalton Sell
How did the Milwaukee Bucks’ trio play against the Philadelphia 76ers?
Although they swept the regular season series 3-0, genuinely assessing how the Bucks played match up against the Philadelphia 76ers is complicated.
The 76ers were not fully healthy in any of the meetings this season, with the team missing either one of Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons or both. Still, the Bucks played the cards they were dealt and took care of business behind some nice play from their top trio.
Antetokounmpo paved the way in those three games by averaging 27.7 points on 61.2 percent shooting from the field. One thing that should be noted is that Giannis shot just 20-for-36 (55.6 percent) on free throw attempts in those three games. Aside from that significant dip in production from the line, the Greek Freak was relatively fantastic in these three matchups.
On the other hand, Middleton struggled to find his niche offensively in these three matchups by averaging just 14.3 points on 16-for-38 shooting, including 4-for-13 from distance. Also tallying 10 turnovers in those three games, the 76ers successfully did their part to keep Middleton’s contributions to a minimum.
Holiday also struggled to a certain degree with knocking down his shot by averaging just 14.3 points on 44.7 percent shooting (28.6 from long range). Struggling to put the ball in the basket, the guard impacted elsewhere on the offensive end by notching 7.3 assists. He was also active defensively, snatching eight steals and blocking a single shot.
Including Embiid and Simmons, the 76ers have a formidable unit on the defensive end and it seems like they were successful in making the Bucks work for everything during these three games. If they meet again with everyone back up to par, Milwaukee will need more, particularly from Middleton.