The Milwaukee Bucks must make the right personnel calls in Game 2 against the Atlanta Hawks
After shortening the rotation drastically to close out round two versus the Brooklyn Nets, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer opened it back up in Game 1 against the Hawks.
While Milwaukee’s Big 3 still each played over 40 minutes, there were some smaller decisions made that genuinely hurt this team. One of the biggest instances of this was the second quarter minutes for backup point guard Jeff Teague, who was thrown right into the mix after seeing the floor for 21 total minutes against the Nets. Teague was tasked with guarding Trae Young for a brief stretch, which proved grueling to watch.
As highlighted perfectly by The Athletic’s Eric Nehm (subscription required), Teague hopelessly defended Young for five quick possessions in that quarter. Young scored eight points on a pair of triples and a floater in that span, and Milwaukee’s 40-31 lead was quickly a 43-39 game. The Bucks had seemingly conjured some momentum up until that point as they established their largest lead of the contest at any point, but it all switched once Young found a rhythm offensively. Teague’s playing time was scarce after that, and rightfully so.
Another tactical choice might be to utilize some of the more efficient shooters when the situation calls for it. For example, with the Bucks trailing 112-111 with 29.8 seconds left to play, they came out of the timeout with the ball and saw Pat Connaughton heave a triple, which did not even graze the rim as he airballed it convincingly. Connaughton was 1-of-6 shooting overall and 0-of-4 from deep, so having him potentially take that shot over, say, Bryn Forbes, was not the greatest plan by any stretch. Forbes did come in with the Bucks down by three with 4.6 seconds remaining, but the game-tying shot went to Khris Middleton, who shot 0-of-9 from 3-point range.
Forbes has his defensive limitations without question, and one would rather have Connaughton guard Young than him any day of the week. However, given how poorly Milwaukee has shot the ball from distance in these playoffs, they need a player like Forbes – who was the third most efficient 3-point shooter in the league during the regular season – to see more time. He played just 12 minutes in the Game 1 loss. Given how sensational he played against the Miami Heat in round one – 15 points per game on 52.5 percent field goal shooting and 48.5 percent 3-point shooting – the Bucks should look to get him going offensively and help them find a groove.
The team will also face the small-ball ideal for the remainder of the series and must prepare for that reality. Starting big man Brook Lopez was benched after Young torched him on countless plays, and Budenholzer moved Giannis to center. It was a viable strategy from the coach, but that lack of size allowed the Hawks to capitalize on several offensive rebounds late in the game to keep them alive and ultimately secure the win. Exactly how much small-ball the Bucks run will be in question after their late-game rebounding troubles, but it will almost certainly return.
Budenholzer must be smart when piecing together these rotations against the Hawks in Game 2 because even the slightest mishap could see the Bucks fall into trouble once more.