Mike Budenholzer Is Dumb & The Hawks Steal Game 1! 6.23.21
It’s a Wednesday night of NBA playoff basketball and we have Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Bucks and Hawks.
(5) Atlanta Hawks vs (3) Milwaukee Bucks
Atlanta Hawks (1-0)
I predicted that the Hawks would win one game in this series, mainly because of Mike Budenholzer being an idiot. I know the Hawks played well, but they won this game because they took advantage of terrible coaching. Trae Young was amazing, dazzling in the pick and rolls and the Hawks defense was good enough for them to storm back late and win this game, taking homecourt from the Bucks.
The first half was the Trae Young show. He continually attacked Brook Lopez in the pick and roll and got easy shots at the rim. He had 12 points in the first quarter and then finished the first half with 25 points on 11/16 shooting. He was dominating. His teammates on the other hand? Not so much.
Bogdan Bogdanovic was 0/2, that knee is still holding him back. Collins was 3/7, Huerter was 3/6, the bench did next to nothing. The Hawks didn’t get to the line at all in that first half, the game wouldn’t have been close if not for Trae Young.
Defensively, they were helping a lot of Giannis. Capela was on him and guys like Huerter and Bogdanovic would help over a lot when he was isolated at the top. Jrue Holiday had 16 points in the first half as a result of them daring him to make outside shots. Giannis also was very good but the Hawks held Khris Middleton to 4/12 shooting. If they got some more scoring from other guys in the 2nd half, they would have a good shot at winning.
That kind of happened, but it was more of the Trae Young show. Young was dominating in the pick and roll and having some fun. He threw a pass of the backboard for a John Collins alley-oop (in traffic btw), he faked a behind the back pass in the corner that led to a layup. He dusted Jrue Holiday, an elite defender, with a cross-over and was wide open. He then shrugged his shoulders waiting for a contest, and then drilled the 3.
Trae had 12 points and _ assists in the 3rd and the Hawks gained some momentum. The Hawks shot 54% from the field in the 3rd and the Bucks shot just 35% as the Hawks defense limited their ball-movement and forced them into tougher shots. Entering the 4th, the Hawks led by two.
The 4th quarter was a roller-coaster on both sides. The Hawks bench did a good job, not losing the lead. But Giannis started to dominate in the middle of the 4th. Giannis as the roller in the pick and rolls was killing the Hawks, he got multiple alley-oop dunks and easy shots at the rim. A Jrue Holiday 3 put the Hawks down 7 with a little over 4 minutes left.
But the Hawks got back into the game thanks to Trae Young and John Collins. Collins hit a big corner 3 with 1:39 left that cut the lead to 1. Then Capela scored and gave the Hawks the lead. The Hawks forced a missed 3 from Connaughton and Young pushed the lead to 3 at the free throw line.
They smartly fouled Giannis with 5 seconds left, not allowing the Bucks a chance to tie. Giannis made both free throws and so did Trae Young on the other end. Down 3, the Hawks needed a stop for the win. Khris Middleton got a decent look, but as he had done all night long, he missed and the Hawks stole Game 1. Over the final 4 minutes of the game, the Hawks went on a 16-8 run.
Trae Young dominated. 48 points, 7 rebounds, and 11 assists on 50% shooting from the field. Youngest player with 40+ points & 10 assists in a Conference Finals game. He was special in the pick and rolls and he carried the Hawks to this win.
John Collins had 23 points and 15 rebounds, 5 offensive. He got some nice Trae Young passes and he also hit some big jumpshots, like that corner 3 with 1:39 left. Huerter had 13, and a double-double with some great Giannis defense from Capela.
The rest of the Hawks didn’t do much both those 4 carried Atlanta. The Hawks only made 8 3’s, but they got to the line more than Milwaukee and here’s the key reason for them winning. They had 12 offensive rebounds which led to 17 2nd chance points. That’s so big in a playoff game, to get extra shots and possessions and the Hawks did that. They only turned the ball over 3 times in the 2nd half, they played a very good game.
They’re going ride or die with Trae Young pick and rolls and it might actually work because the Bucks are dumb and don’t know how to defend those screens. The Hawks just need some scoring from other guys throughout this series and get an Ice Trae explosion every night and they’ll be just fine.
Milwaukee Bucks (0-1)
God this team amazes me with how flat out dumb they are. Their drop coverage on screens worried me before this series but this game shows how much of a problem Mike Budenholzer is. Sure they changed things up late by putting Giannis at center but the idea of dropping the big on screens was still there. The Bucks should be sweeping this series if they just played defense.
And if Khris Middleton wasn’t so inconsistent. Middleton was awful, 6/23 shooting. This game offensively was saved for the Bucks by Jrue Holiday, who finally hit outside shots. Holiday had 33 points and 10 assists, he was great and his pick and rolls with Giannis were lethal.
Speaking of Giannis, he had 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists. Most of his damage came when he was off-ball, he didn’t do much against a much better interior defender in Capela. He can’t do the same things he did to Blake Griffin and I think he realized that a few times in this game.
The adjustments for the Bucks are simple, lock Mike Budenholzer up somewhere and win. I’m only half kidding. You have to switch on defense more and just double Trae Young. Make guys like Huerter, Collins, Gallinari, and Bogdanovic consistently make shots.
Offensively, get Middleton better looks instead of tough one-on-one shots and use Giannis off-ball. Also do more Holiday-Giannis pick and rolls. But one thing is clear, the Hawks are no pushovers and without adjustments, this series will be a long one for the Bucks.
What Are Your Thoughts From Game 1 Tonight? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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