Milwaukee Bucks: 3 improvements to make after Game 1 loss to Phoenix Suns
Once again, the Milwaukee Bucks have fallen down into a 1-0 hole to start off their NBA Finals series with the Phoenix Suns.
Milwaukee’s 118-105 loss to the Suns in Game 1 was a tough opening salve to take in Tuesday night, especially as they were chasing the game for the majority of the night.
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With plenty of things to ruminate and film to pore over, the Bucks have a number of key areas to improve and fix going into Game 2 as we’ll get into shortly.
So without further ado, let’s break down the areas that the Milwaukee Bucks can improve coming out of their Game 1 loss and with less than 32 hours away from their Game 2 against the Phoenix Suns.
Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday has to ramp up aggression after Game 1 loss
It was far from a banner night for Bucks guard Jrue Holiday in playing his first NBA Finals game. Holiday finished with 10 points on 14 shots (0-for-4 from three), along with nine assists and seven boards and three turnovers in nearly 40 minutes of run.
Despite the return of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Holiday saw a similar amount of touches as he did towards the end of the Bucks’ Conference Finals series with the Atlanta Hawks. Per NBA.com/stats, Holiday had 78 touches in Game 1, second to only Khris Middleton on the night.
However, Holiday didn’t show any of the paint attacking or penetration we had come to expect from him at the end of the Hawks series. While having drove 11 times over Game 1, Holiday passed on 45.5 percent of his drives and was just 1-for-2 within the restricted area for the night.
When the Bucks are at their best, it’s not only because of Holiday playing up to his standard of play, but setting the tone and driving down the lane repeatedly to fuel the Bucks’ paint attack (Milwaukee finished with 42 points in the paint, by the way).
While the Bucks have to find their groove again with having their three best players on the floor and taking up most of ball handling responsibilities, Holiday would be best served by forcing the issue and driving the Bucks’ offense in the only way he knows how.