3 keys for the Milwaukee Bucks to take 3-1 lead over Chicago Bulls

The Milwaukee Bucks will need to continue to shoot the 3 well in Game 4

That’s a very obvious statement, but despite the Game 1 win, the Bucks shot under 27 percent from deep on 38 attempts which would explain their 93 points. They missed a bunch of open shots and gave fans flashbacks to playoff games in years past where their 3-point shooting abandoned them.

That has not been the case in the last two games! Although they lost Game 2, they shot nearly 39 percent on 36 attempts, and then in Game 3, they shot 36.6 percent on 41 attempts.

The numbers in Game 3 were buoyed by a combined 9-of-15 from Grayson Allen and Bobby Portis. As I mentioned, Jrue Holiday hasn’t shot the ball well from 3 but neither has Pat Connaughton, who went 2-of-7 from behind the arc last game.

That was actually his best 3-point shooting game of the series as well after going 2-of-12 in the first two games. The good news for Connaughton is that they’re generating open looks for him as all of his 3-point attempts in this series have come with a defender four or more feet away. He shot nearly 39 percent on those looks this season, so he’s bound to break out of this shooting slump eventually.

Connaughton’s 3-point shooting has been a bellwether for the Bucks’ playoff chances and we saw him get on a heater from Game 7 against the Brooklyn Nets to Game 5 against the Phoenix Suns where he shot over 46 percent on 4.7 attempts in that 12-game span.

There hasn’t been a shortage of looks or a lack of aggressiveness from Connaughton like there was with Allen before his big night in Game 3, it’s just a matter of the shots falling.

The Milwaukee Bucks hope their 3-point shooting luck continues overall and sprinkles itself on Connaughton for Game 4 this afternoon.