Milwaukee Bucks’ Big 3 continue to prove they’re the NBA’s best trio

Ho hum, another huge night from the Milwaukee Bucks‘ big three against the Sacramento Kings last night. You look at their stat lines at the end of games now and almost expect all three to have had big games in some form.

They scored a combined 89 points in the Bucks’ narrow win over the Kings and each of them came up with huge plays down the stretch at both ends to close that one out. In the offseason, I ranked the Bucks’ big three as the league’s second-best trio behind the Brooklyn Nets’ big three at the time.

They’re easily the league’s best trio now.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Big 3 has been on a heater as of late

Now, we all know that the Milwaukee Bucks have an unbelievable trio leading the way. They won a title in their first year together for goodness sake!

But this recent hot stretch that has seen them win eight of their last 10 games is showing just how dominant they can be as well as how dangerous the Bucks are when those three are in the lineup.

Since the All-Star break, the Bucks are now 8-2, thanks in large part to some ridiculous games from their three leading men.

• Giannis Antetokounmpo: 31.5 points on 63 percent true shooting, 12.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.2 blocks.
• Khris Middleton: 25.7 points on 63 percent true shooting, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.0 assists.
• Jrue Holiday: 20.2 points on 60 percent true shooting, 4.5 rebounds, 7.1 assists, and 2.4 steals.
• They’ve scored 62 percent of the Bucks’ 1,250 points since the All-Star break.
• They have 72 percent of the Bucks’ 250 assists since the All-Star break.

What sticks out most is how all three have been able to not only score efficiently but also are all willing to share the ball. It has been one of the key reasons as to why these three fit so well together is that they don’t mind giving the ball to whichever one of them is feeling it that night.

Middleton in particular has taken off since the All-Star break and seems to be hitting his stride at exactly the right time for the defending champs. Remember, heading into the break, Middleton was shooting 23 percent from 3 in his final 10 games. Many questioned his All-Star selection, but it’s hard to at this point with how he’s playing.

Holiday has been consistently great all season as a secondary scorer and has been even better as a facilitator. I wasn’t sure how much better Holiday could be compared to last season, but another season with this team, and he’s elevated his game. I’m still a little disappointed he didn’t get named an All-Star, but if he can carry this into the playoffs then that won’t matter.

Overall, they’re 32-9 when those three all play (which is a 64-win pace over an 82-game season) and are undefeated (8-0) when all three score at least 20 points. Per Cleaning the Glass (subscription required), lineups with the big three in them are plus-11.5 per 100 possessions.

Part of why the Bucks have struggled at times this season is just that those three haven’t been together as much as they would like. While they’ve gotten great contributions from the likes of Grayson Allen, Bobby Portis, and Pat Connaughton when one of the big three is out, they’re clearly a different team when they’re whole.

Although there’s still a long way to go for defending their title and there’s still some kinks to work out with how they’re playing as a team, if the Bucks have their three best players available, it will be extremely difficult to beat them four times in seven games.

Remember those silly folks who said they weren’t sure how big of an upgrade adding Holiday would be for the Milwaukee Bucks? I sure do!