Kevin Durant deserves all the praise in the world after he put up arguably the greatest performance of his career to lift the Brooklyn Nets to a come-from-behind Game 5 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. In the same way, the Bucks deserve all kinds of slander for their colossal second half meltdown that now puts them on the brink of elimination in the 2021 NBA playoffs.
It was a tale of two halves for Milwaukee in Game 5. The Bucks looked good early, carrying the momentum from a dominant Game 4 victory. They held a 16-point lead at the half and built a lead as large as 17 points even in the third quarter.
So, what went wrong for Milwaukee in Game 5? Well, pretty much everything.
The Bucks were an absolute eyesore to watch in that second half. As much as Kevin Durant earned his flowers for his absolute masterpiece on Tuesday, Milwaukee pretty much shot itself in the foot with some of the most atrocious basketball anyone will ever see. They went away with everything that got them the win in Game 4 and the 16-point lead they established through the first 24 minutes of Game 1.
The “keys to win” for Milwaukee heading into Game 5 were rather simple and anybody with a brain could figure it out. On offense, they found a lot of success in Game 4 by running their sets, particularly with Antetokounmpo as the roll man, attacking the paint relentlessly, and integrating more flow into their offense with a steady dose of ball and man movement. Also, with James Harden clearly still hobbled with his hamstring strain, they needed to prioritize going at him and making him work on defense, much like the Suns did with an injured Anthony Davis.
Defensively, the plan is to ideally send multiple bodies at Durant as much as possible and force the “others” to beat them and yes, that includes Harden who is arguably just close to half of his full form.
Milwaukee pretty much did the opposite of every single item on their to-do list for Game 5.
The way they started was great and they did majority of what got them the Game 4 win. However, as Game 5 went on, the more they went back into their bad habits and started playing “dumb” as Charles Barkley savagely said on Inside the NBA. And boy, it was incredibly frustrating to watch.
The ball and man movement that had so much success for them turned into predictable isolations that made it easier for Brooklyn to defend. More often than not, offensive possessions for the Bucks ended up with a contested jumper that either clanked the rim or hit nothing but air.
Even if the Bucks went one-on-one, they didn't even try to hunt the injured James Harden. Jrue Holiday had a number of horrendous shot attempts in the fourth period with Kevin Durant right in his face. As great of an offensive talent Holiday is, how is a 6-foot-3 guard going to score over a shifty 7-footer like KD? It just didn't make sense.
A notable possession from Milwaukee that surely made Bucks Nation face palm their foreheads was when Khris Middleton, after a made Nets basket, quickly drove to the baseline and shot a contested mid-range jumper early into the shot clock. That ended up bricking the side of the back board and wasting a precious offensive possession for Milwaukee. Those kinds of shots are deflating, especially since it came with Brooklyn holding all kinds of momentum in the fourth.
Another terrible possession happened when Milwaukee was able to get the match-up they liked with Harden on Antetokounmpo on the block. Giannis obviously had the height and might advantage over Harden, and with The Beard playing on one leg, the 6-foot-11 forward could just get by him and overpower him in the paint. Instead, Antetokounmpo settled for a turnaround jumper that is clearly not in his offensive bag.
Now, let's turn attention to Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, who probably won't hold that position much longer.
It really seemed like he had figured it out when he employed Giannis at center in Game 4, where they went on a 19-2 run with that lineup. For some unfathomable reason, Budenholzer didn't employ that for any extended stretch in Game 5.
The players are obviously the ones out there, but it's criminal just how Budenholzer wasn't able to get his guys to play basketball the right way. It's clear that nothing was going for them offensively and he did nothing to get them back on track. He didn't even try anything different and just stuck with the guns that weren't working. Bobby Portis, who provided them with productive spark minutes in Game 4, did not see any minutes all on Tuesday. Why so, nobody knows.
Defensively is also where Budenholzer should get a lot of blame. Kevin Durant was cooking the entire night, yet they didn't even try sending double-teams his way for majority of the contest. They just let him go one-on-one and being the most prolific scorer of this generation, the 4-time scoring champion had easy pickings the whole game.
In addition, sticking with Brook Lopez on the floor during critical stretches was a major mistake. Durant just mercilessly hunted the slow-footed big man on pick-and-rolls and with the 7-footer opting to drop on his coverages, the 2-time Finals MVP feasted with his deadly mid-range jumper. KD drained a number of those in the fourth period that turned the tide towards Brooklyn.
The series isn't over just yet, but it sure feels like the Bucks blew this one in a massive way. Milwaukee can still prove they're the championship contender they claim to be by coming back from this 3-2 series deficit, especially since Brooklyn is still hobbled. It starts by playing smarter basketball in Game 6.
Follow Us
Subscribe