Milwaukee Bucks: Keys to victory in vital Game 3 versus Atlanta Hawks

The Milwaukee Bucks must replicate defensive success against Trae Young in Game 3 with the Atlanta Hawks

The differences in the Bucks’ overall defensive efforts against Trae Young in this series have been polar opposites.

Young exploded in Game 1 with a heroic 48-point effort that included 11 assists to give the Hawks an early advantage in the series. His stellar performances gave the Bucks an emphasis for Game 2, and they certainly came out motivated to slow him down. Sure enough, the star guard struggled mightily to find any rhythm whatsoever by scoring just 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting, including a vile 1-of-8 from behind the arc.

Holiday was once again primarily tasked with keeping Young in check, and he did a much better job of playing aggressive defense on him from the opening tip. Yet, he received some assistance from Brook Lopez, who was much better defensively and did not allow Young to get off easy floaters in the post, which killed the Bucks in Game 1. With his outside shot struggling to fall, this revamped approach to the drop-back defensive approach was a lifesaver.

With Young unable to get his own offense going, he was forced to look for his teammates, but the Bucks did a fantastic job of cutting off his passing lanes. Being pestered by top-notch defenders from start to finish, the 22-year-old guard tallied a career-high nine turnovers on the night to just three assists. With Milwaukee disrupting Atlanta’s offense all night, the team’s second-leading scorer in Game 2 was Danilo Gallinari, who finished with 12 points.

The Bucks clamped down defensively in Game 2 and showcased that they are a dangerous team when they are clicking on that side of the ball. Particularly when guarding Young, they must keep up these pestering efforts in Game 3 and beyond.

With these Eastern Conference Finals tied up at 1-1, tonight’s Game 3 will be must-see television down in Atlanta. Be sure to catch the action at 7:30 p.m. CST on TNT.