3 Bucks who need to rise to the occasion in do or die Game 5 vs. Heat

3 – Grayson Allen/Bobby Portis/Joe Ingles/Pat Connaughton

Yes, this is technically cheating. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Outside of Game 2, which the Bucks won, Milwaukee’s role players have not provided much in this series. On the other side of the court, Miami’s role players have given their team a huge lift, which is among the many reasons why they lead this series. The Bucks need one or more of these four guys to tighten up and make an impact for the remainder of this series.

Everyone here failed to crack 10 points in Game 4, and they combined to shoot 5-of-16 from the perimeter (31.3 percent). That cannot happen, especially when Miami’s role players are playing as well as they have. Coach Budenholzer has rolled with Allen and Connaughton the most among the Bucks’ role players, and they need to take advantage of those minutes. Connaughton showed that he could have a major impact by scoring 22 points in Game 2 but has been incredibly quiet outside of that. If Allen is going to play over 30 minutes, he needs to chip in more than eight points.

Ingles and Portis are also more than capable of making an impact. Ingles has proven to be a great shooter, which made it puzzling when he only had one shot attempt, which he buried, in Game 4. The Bucks need to make it a point to get him more involved offensively if he’s going to play nearly 20 minutes. Portis brought some intensity to the mix in Game 2, but that ferocity has not been on display since. The Bucks need him to bring some intensity to the game by scoring the basketball and attacking the glass.

Game 5 will be crucial for all of these guys; it would be great to see the Bucks win the role-player battle and the game overall.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat will square off tonight at 8:30 p.m. CST at Fiserv Forum.