Milwaukee Bucks: Jrue Holiday must maintain attacking from Game 1 vs. Hawks
The Milwaukee Bucks have much on their mind as they look to even up their Conference Finals series with the Atlanta Hawks Friday night at Fiserv Forum.
After dropping Game 1 in what ended up being a 116-113 loss, the Bucks have ground to make up and have to regain their success while at home against a Hawks team that continues to raise the bar of expectations. While there is much work to be done, their star guard Jrue Holiday appears to be back on track offensively if Game 1 was any indication.
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Holiday posted 33 points on 14-for-25 shooting (5-for-12 from three), 10 assists, four rebounds, three turnovers, two steals in over 41-and-a-half minutes of burn.
It surely wasn’t a bad time for Holiday to put together his highest scoring performance of the postseason so far and especially after he had struggled extensively on that end of the floor during the Bucks’ series with the Brooklyn Nets.
Surely, the 31-year-old finally got his shots to fall from beyond the arc after going 12-for-46 from deep in the Nets series, but Holiday impressed in many more clear ways.
The Milwaukee Bucks will need Jrue Holiday’s offensive aggressiveness against the Hawks
Holiday’s ability to put his head down and dissect the Hawks’ interior defense was key to the Bucks being able to score 70 points in the paint for the opening game in the series. 12 of those points came from Holiday and he was regularly able to get downhill past Hawks perimeter defenders and finish strong around or through Atlanta’s frontcourt Clint Capela and John Collins.
Just look at how Holiday set the tone for his offensive explosion by slicing through the Hawks’ defense and the strong take and finesse finish he lofts over Collins right at the rack.
Per NBA.com/stats, Holiday scored 12 points on 6-for-8 from the field over his 16 drives throughout Game 1. That dribble penetration will surely test the Hawks’ defense throughout this series and Holiday poses a size, strength and skills advantage as a lead ball handler that the Hawks will struggle to overcome, especially if Holiday ever gets Trae Young switched on to him.
We didn’t get to see much of it, but Holiday’s size advantage in the post over Young created an easy basket for Bucks center Bobby Portis after rookie Hawks big man Onyeka Oknogwu shaded more towards Holiday’s way with Young on him.
Atlanta will do plenty of work to keep Young off of Holiday, but there will still be plenty of opportunities for the veteran guard to continue his attacking on mismatches, both in transition and half-court opportunities.
Next. Slowing down Trae Young is the key to Atlanta Hawks series. dark
The ripple effects of Holiday getting into the heart of the Hawks’ defense was seen all throughout Game 1 and as he put together a performance befitting of his first regular season in Milwaukee. As the Bucks look to battle back in the series, Holiday will surely be at the center of the Bucks’ offensive attack that will be needed to get past the Hawks.