No Giannis Antetokounmpo proved to be no problem for the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night, as the league's number one seed stormed back and tied up their quarterfinals series against Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat at one game apiece.
Without the two-time MVP in tow, Mike Budenholzer's club leaned heavily on their long-range game where, in turn, they went on to tie the record for most made 3-pointers made in a game in NBA playoff history at 25.
Following the contest, Jimmy Butler issued a statement regarding Milwaukee's 3-point barrage and noted that, heading into Game 3, they must have more of a physical defensive approach.
“Putting body on body,” Jimmy Butler said. “And protecting the paint…And then whenever they kick it out to the 3, close out, run them off the line and do it all over again because they move the ball extremely well.”
When asked if he believes this gameplan will be easy to adjust to, the perennial All-Star seemed to be rather optimistic.
“I would like to think so,” Butler said in response.
As a collective, the Bucks shot an astounding 51.0% from distance and 53.5% from the field as a whole. Leading the charge in the 3-point department was trusty second-unit role player Pat Connaughton, who knocked down a game-high six triples on 60.0% shooting from deep.
Milwaukee would also see four different players connect on four or more 3s on the night, all of whom converted at a clip of 40.0% or better.
In an effort to try and keep up, the Heat hoisted up a total of 36 3-pointers during the contest, cashing in on 16 of them (44.4%). Alas, in the end, it was all for naught as the Bucks would pull away with a 138-122 win in the tightly contested Game 2.
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