San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Bucks big men shut down Young, Hawks
MILWAUKEE — Clint Capela was in position and ready to elevate, but his midair pang of disbelief suggested that he hadn’t considered the need to levitate too.
For years, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s rim attacks have shaken rims and prompted countless collisions with defenders. While the two-time MVP typically favors force over improvisation, he helped the Milwaukee Bucks pull even with the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals by deploying a lighter touch. After spinning past Solomon Hill in the first quarter, Antetokounmpo sized up Capela and then left the former Rockets center hanging with a double-clutch finger roll that conjured memories of Michael Jordan’s “spectacular move” in the 1991 NBA Finals.
“I was going to my usual move, trying to get the basket,” Antetokounmpo said. “At first, I wanted to dunk the ball, but I saw Capela coming, one of the best shotblockers in the league, so I decided to avoid him. That was it.”
This has been a postseason of revelations and evolutions for Antetokounmpo, who led the Bucks with a game-high 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists in a 125-91 blowout victory in Game 2 on Friday at Fiserv Forum. In the first round against the Miami Heat, Antetokounmpo adjusted to extra defensive attention by becoming a more willing passer rather than forcing his own offense. Late in the second round against the Brooklyn Nets, he dialed back his outside shooting and avoided what would have been a misguided mano a mano battle with Kevin Durant.
After the Bucks’ uninspired performance in a Game 1 loss to the Hawks demanded a big response, Antetokounmpo again smartly resisted the temptation to do too much, choosing instead to
lead by example with focused, two-way play. Antetokounmpo, perhaps the NBA’s most physically imposing player, is learning to navigate toward gentler alternate routes.
“I was calm (after Game 1),” he said. “It wasn’t the end of the world. But if we lost this game, I would be a little more nervous.”
Milwaukee’s offensive game plan was simple and its defensive adjustments were smart. Sensing they could attack the heart of the Hawks’ defense after piling up 70 points in the paint in Game 1, the Bucks opened by driving hard to the basket. Those inside forays set up Milwaukee’s shooters for a breakthrough night that quickly
turned Game 2 into a laugher.
The Bucks led by 32 points at halftime, built a 41-point secondhalf advantage and watched as Hawks coach Nate McMillan pulled star guard Trae Young with more than 15 minutes remaining in regulation. During a fourth quarter comprised entirely of garbage time, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Giannis’s older brother and a seldom-used reserve, got in on the fun with a baseline dunk that drew a loud ovation. By night’s end, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer had given minutes to 15 players and secured one of the five most-lopsided playoff wins in franchise history.
Defensively, Milwaukee accomplished its top priority by making life significantly more difficult for Young. In Game 1, he played freely and easily, shimmying his way to 48 points and a surprising win. In Game 2, Young faced more aggressive defense when he brought the ball up the court and when he attempted to drive into the paint. As a result, he finished with 15 points, his lowest total of this postseason. Young also committed nine turnovers, the most by any player in the 2021 playoffs and tied for the most in Atlanta’s postseason franchise history.
With Young bottled up, the Hawks struggled to find other consistent sources of scoring. Their offense is predicated upon
Young’s ability to draw defensive attention, but the Bucks’ big men, including Antetokounmpo and center Brook Lopez, used their length to close passing lanes and discourage drives. Lopez stepped up higher on defense than he had in Game 1, thereby preventing Young from probing for easy floaters and running layups.
“I’ve just got to make better reads,” Young said, noting that Milwaukee also swarmed the paint to short-circuit his pick-androlls. “I take complete responsibility for what happened tonight. Taking care of the ball is something I’ve got to be better at, and I will be better at it. They just upped their physicality tonight, and we’ve got to do the same.”
When Young, who showed signs of fatigue early in Game 2, forced passes in traffic or missed 3-pointers, Milwaukee repeatedly capitalized by leaking out behind him in transition. For the Hawks to right themselves as this series shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Sunday, they will need to shore up both their interior defense in the half court and their transition defense. The Bucks had 62 points in the paint and 27 fast-break points, unsustainable numbers for the Hawks if they want to extend this into a long series.
Meanwhile, Young will need to be nothing short of sensational on offense. His heroics in Game 1 delivered a narrow victory, but the Bucks humbled the Hawks in Game 2, exposing Atlanta’s heavy reliance upon its star guard along the way.
Just as Capela was left gaping by Antetokounmpo’s high-flying contortionist act, the Hawks were forced to process the collective might of the Bucks’ sizable talent and experience gaps.
“That intensity that (the Bucks) came out with wasn’t a surprise to us,” McMillan said. “But they showed that there’s another level that we have to get to. They totally just dominated the entire game.”