3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks solid win over Atlanta Hawks

The Milwaukee Bucks did a much better job against Trae Young… for the most part

A huge reason as to why the Milwaukee Bucks were able to build that big 19-point lead in the first half was how they defended Trae Young and made life difficult for him.

Over 16 first half minutes, Young scored seven points, only took four shots, and was a minus-14. The credit goes to the backcourt duo of Holiday and Jevon Carter, who were picking up Young full-court and generally pestering him to get the ball out of his hands.

Carter has been a huge addition for the Bucks off the bench, even when he’s not hitting four 3s as he did the other night. His defense behind Holiday makes life miserable for any guard, but when those two are on the floor at the same time? I can’t imagine things are very fun.

Interestingly enough, Carter played under five minutes in the second half and that coincided with Young playing a whole lot better. In the second half, Young dropped 20 points, got to the line six times, and was a team-best plus-8 to lead the Hawks’ near-comeback.

I’m not saying Carter was the reason that Young struggled, but it certainly helped that he was out there to pester Young in addition to Holiday. Young is also just really good, so he was bound to get going at some point.

Despite the big second half, they still did a much better job against him than in their previous two meetings as he averaged 36 points on 72 percent true shooting in those games. I’m sure they’ll take a 27-point game with a win instead.

This might be the best the Bucks have looked all season over an extended period and they’ll hope to bring this with them on their road trip, which starts on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors.