Milwaukee Bucks: 3 adjustments to make in Game 2 of NBA Finals
The Milwaukee Bucks will as they go into Game 2 of their NBA Finals series with the Phoenix Suns.
Milwaukee dropped Game 1 by taking on a 118-105 loss and falling into a 1-0 hole to start off their first Finals series in 47 years. It was far from an auspicious start for the Bucks as the Suns increasingly took control of the opening game and it left the Bucks still searching for their first victory against this year’s Western Conference champions.
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Now, several hours ahead of going into Game 2, the Bucks will look to put an improved performance in order to even this series and take a game in Phoenix before this series shifts back to Milwaukee over the weekend.
So without further ado, let’s look at three of the biggest adjustments the Milwaukee Bucks can make going into Game 2 of their NBA Finals series with the Phoenix Suns.
Milwaukee Bucks must turn Jrue Holiday loose on to Chris Paul in Game 2 of NBA Finals
For the large part of Game 1, the Bucks were very comfortable switching on to the Bucks’ premier shot creators, Devin Booker and Chris Paul.
While the Bucks were very willing to live with putting their bigs on an island against the Suns’ stars, it didn’t stop Paul from eventually dictating the proceedings and steering the Suns to a 1-0 lead as he finished with 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting and 4-for-7 from three and nine assists.
The Bucks may very well look to offer up such looks to the Suns again, but we may very well see the Bucks switch up different defensive looks to disrupt Phoenix’s methodical offense. And Bucks guard Jrue Holiday may very well hold the keys in the Bucks’ quest to slow down Paul.
With Phoenix and Paul excelling so much in pick-and-roll, putting up an increased resistance towards the Suns’ high-usage backcourt is paramount to Milwaukee, just as Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer discussed after the Bucks’ Game 1 loss:
"“Their pick-and-roll game is tough to guard,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I think we’ve just got to keep getting better. We’ll look at the film. We’ll see how we can maybe take away some of the rhythm.”"
Per NBA.com/stats, Holiday only guard Paul across 13.5 partial possessions and the future Hall of Fame guard finished scored six points on 2-for-2 shooting, with both makes coming from 3-point range, and four assists.
Holiday has the size, length and strength to bother Paul in getting to his favored spots on the floor, whether it’s from mid-range or from beyond the arc, and the Bucks don’t have a requisite defender other than Holiday that can put pressure on the ever collected Paul.
Again, putting Holiday on Paul won’t be a cure-all and the Bucks’ defensive unit will be tested in other ways if the Bucks move Holiday on to Paul after seeing plenty of reps on Booker (Booker was held scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting when matched up on Holiday in Game 1). But that’s where having someone like P.J. Tucker will come in handy in that regard.