Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from thrilling Game 2 win vs. Atlanta Hawks

After dropping Game 1 in disappointing fashion, the Milwaukee Bucks certainly sent a statement from the opening tip in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Bucks came out determined to take control of this game from the jump, and they never looked back after they put those first two points on the board. Milwaukee never trailed in this game from start to finish and built up a lead that was 41 at its apex. After an eventful 48 minutes, the final score was 125-91 in favor of the Bucks.

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This was exactly the bounce-back effort that this team needed to have after dropping Game 1 on their home floor just days before. Losing the opening contest served as a much-needed wake-up call, and one could not have crafted a better response from this resilient Milwaukee team.

There were several storylines created from the Bucks’ dominant win, but here are three takeaways from a memorable Game 2.

The Milwaukee Bucks finally hit some 3-pointers in their Game 2 win over the Atlanta Hawks

It is beyond evident that Milwaukee’s once stellar 3-point shooting efficiency has fallen off a clip in these playoffs. They kept that lackluster trend consistent in Wednesday’s Game 1 loss by shooting an awful 8-for-36 (22.2 percent) in that matchup, which proved disheartening as they lost by just three. With too many abysmal shooting performances stacked up to this point, the Bucks were due to break out of this slump.

Their day finally came as Milwaukee’s key rotational players shot 14-of-32 (44 percent) from deep in Friday’s victory. Excluding the fourth quarter squad, who made just one triple in nine attempts, this team was finally shooting like the Bucks that let it fly so confidently during the regular season. This barrage of triples certainly help increase Milwaukee’s lead, and it was an all-around team effort.

In particular, two players that stood out were Brook Lopez and Pat Connaughton. Both had their struggles in Game 1 trying to shoot the ball, but each bounced back in the rematch. Lopez made three triples in five attempts en route to a 16 point performance after he was benched during the first matchup. Meanwhile, Connaughton was a perfect 3-of-3 from distance after missing all four of his attempts in the opening game. Among those misses was an attempt that would have put the Bucks ahead during the final 30 seconds in Game 1, but the guard air-balled the shot. It was great to see his confidence still intact after that, as he scored nine points this time around.

Although these two paved the way, it was still a team effort with this revamped 3-point shooting, but now the Bucks must look to sustain it moving forward.