Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 118-105 Game 1 loss to Phoenix Suns in NBA Finals

Jrue Holiday falls flat in Milwaukee Bucks’ Game 1 loss to Phoenix Suns

By far the biggest disappointing performance seen from Game 1 was Bucks guard Jrue Holiday.

The veteran Bucks guard greatly struggled to make a mark on either end of the floor and certainly wasn’t aggressive enough when attacking the basket throughout the night. Often seen settling for shots, Holiday was 3-for-10 on jump shots over the course of Game 1, per NBA.com/stats. Along with missing all four of his triples and going 1-for-2 on his rare attempts within the restricted area.

More worryingly, Holiday was far from engaged on the defensive side of the ball and certainly to the level of the All-Defensive first team-caliber he’s played at this season. Making a decision to overhelp on a driving Devin Booker that left Chris Paul wide-open from 3-point range that he promptly stuck served as a fitting play for Holiday’s defensive missteps to open up this series.

All in all, Holiday finished with 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting (0-for-4 from three, 2-for-2 from the free throw line), nine assists, seven boards, three turnovers in nearly 40 minutes of burn.

Holiday certainly did his part to get the ball moving, especially in the first half, and he had quite the adjustment of not nearly having the same amount of touches with Antetokounmpo on the floor as he did with Antetokounmpo out. Even with that context, Holiday will flat-out have to be better moving forward in this series.

Game 2 of the Bucks’ NBA Finals series with the Phoenix Suns will take place on Thursday night at Phoenix Suns Arena. With the tip set for a little after 8 P.M. CST once again, you can catch the action on ABC where it will be nationally televised.