Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 110-88 Game 4 loss to Atlanta Hawks

Milwaukee Bucks’ supporting stars Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton struggle in Game 4 loss

Well before the Bucks had lost Antetokounmpo to his knee injury, the Bucks were stuck in mud and that certainly didn’t improve after losing Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks unsurprisingly finished with their worst offensive performance of the series as they finished with a 94.6 offensive rating, per NBA.com/stats. While they weren’t the only ones to blame for such a porous showing, the Bucks’ best perimeter players, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, both struggled to take and steer the Bucks’ offensive reins in any positive way.

Holiday led the way for the Bucks with 19 points while Middleton had 16 points and they both finished with the game on 6-for-17 shooting and went a combined 2-for-14 from long range, with Holiday supplying both triples. They also combined to supply for half of the Bucks’ 16 turnovers on the night, which only exacerbated Milwaukee’s struggles to execute offensively.

Again, the Bucks’ offensive woes didn’t just fall on either Holiday and Middleton’s shoulders. The Bucks as a whole struggled to hit shots and went 8-for-39 from 3-point range (20.5 percent), which continues the shoddy shooting they’ve had all playoffs long.

However, with the likely absence of Antetokounmpo coming, the Bucks desperately need both of Holiday and Middleton to get into gear and set the tone for a massive Game 5 back in Milwaukee. Considering the ups and downs they’ve gone through this series, they have to show some semblance of consistency, especially as their season will soon be on the line with how long this series has gone on.

Game 5 of the Bucks’ Conference Finals series with the Atlanta Hawks will shift back to Milwaukee Thursday night at Fiserv Forum and you can catch the action on TNT where it is slated to tip off at 7:30 P.M. CST.