The Bucks were missing Antetokounmpo in game 5 but Brook Lopez had 33 points and 7 rebounds on 14 of 18 from the field and now he’s the new franchise star, and Milwaukee is trading Giannis and…!
Ok ok let’s chill out for a second and break down what actually happened. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
This play pretty much sums up the monster night for Lopez.
Holiday is in attack mode on the high screen, you can see the much slower Galinari retreating, so Okongwu comes from the back to help. Jrue stays patient and keeps his dribble alive, and you can see Brook signaling for the alley oop, we got the pass and the dunk.
Again, on the left side, Holiday attacks and hits the defender with the “Smitty” which opens up the driving lane, and again, you see Okongwu helping and Lopez following the action so he dives inside, excellent bullet pass and another dunk.
And this is almost the same play just with a high screen up top. This is not a replay, as we got the same scenario, the drive, the help, Lopez comes in from the right side and dunks it.
As you continue to watch some of these highlights, my point is that the aggressiveness of Jrue Holiday was the main catalyst for the Bucks in this game, and you can see how it translated to a big scoring night for the big man.
But seeing him pushing the ball and pressing throughout the entire game, I loved what I saw from Jrue who stepped up big time when the team needed him, playing without their leader.
With that being said, why isn’t he like this every time, every game? That’s what Chuck asked him as well.
JRUE HOLIDAY INTERVIEW
Speaking of Lopez again, he was absolutely amazing on the defensive end.
It was incredible to see how Atlanta would hunt for the switch, but then when Brook would be matched up outside with a smaller and quicker player, they often settled for a contested step back as you can see right here. On this play, the big man is attached to Bogdanovic throughout the entire possession and at the end, look at how tough of a shot Bogi ends up taking.
And there were a few situations where the Hawks guards would try to go past him, only to be sent back with a spectacular block.
He finished the night with 4 total rejections and you can see the excellent movement that he had during each and every one of those, putting himself in a great position to actually make that play.
I also need to mention Bobby Portis as well for coming out with great energy on both ends, as the majority of the Bucks roster, but something definitely needs to be said about the lack of effort from the Atlanta Hawks. They were a complete no show for most of the game, allowing Milwaukee 33 of the 48 total field goals to come from the paint. I mean look at the shooting chart, it’s all under the basket. This was clear right from the start.
REGGIE MILLER CLIP.
And on the offensive end, a lot of turnovers and overall chaos.
This was a good game to steal for them, with both teams playing without their best players, but as it stands at the moment, the best that Atlanta could hope for is that Trae Young is able to play the next one, and they come back in this same arena for game 7. We’ll see what happens.
What do you think? Are the Bucks headed to the finals or will there be a deciding 7th game?
That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.