3 observations from the Milwaukee Bucks’ Game 1 loss to Miami Heat

3 – The Bucks were not efficient offensively

It was a welcoming sign to see Khris Middleton score 33 points, but the Milwaukee Bucks need contributions from more guys if they hope to tie up the series on Wednesday.

Bobby Portis scored 21 coming off the bench, but that was it; the bench contributed next to nothing on Sunday, and Milwaukee had to play catch-up the whole game. Having few contributions from your bench isn’t ideal.

Jrue Holiday went 6-of-18 and scored 16 points which included 2-of-9 from three. So, when Middleton and Portis are the only ones picking up the offense, that’s not a recipe for playoff success for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Milwaukee, after Giannis went down, didn’t play with any sense of urgency. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were able to play their two-man game, and Miami was able to 15-of-25 from three.

Miami held Milwaukee to six fast break points. Without Giannis, Milwaukee didn’t have too many opportunities to get out and run so they spent most of the game in their half-court offensive sets which falls into Miami’s trap as they were still a top-11 defensive team.

If Milwaukee hopes to have a chance in Game 2, they have to get more balanced scoring off the bench, and starters as well because in the postseason it’s about which of the other guys can step up in a starring role and take the scoring load off the stars.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Milwaukee Bucks rebound in Game 2 against Miami.