Milwaukee Bucks: 3 observations from Game One loss

Jimmy Buckets

Jimmy Butler lived up to his nickname and got buckets in game one. He was incredibly efficient, scoring 40 points on 13-20 shooting and 12-13 from the free-throw line. He also made both of his three-point attempts after shooting 24.4 percent from three in the regular season.

In my previous article about three matchups that would be crucial in this series, I wrote that if Middleton could outplay Butler the series would be a wrap and if they could at least contain Butler then things would be good. While Middleton played well on the offensive end, Butler completely took over, especially in the fourth quarter, and showed that when he’s on he can lead his team to a big win.

Jimmy Butler probably won’t put up 40 every game for the rest of this series, so that’s something positive the Bucks can take and be hopeful about for game two, but they need to figure out a better strategy for guarding him.

He broke down defenders off the dribble and got to the paint, drawing tons of fouls, evidenced by his 13 free throw attempts. Butler specializes in getting foul calls and does some things that Giannis could learn from. For instance, when he drives with a guy on his hip he violently whiplashes his head back even if he doesn’t get hit to make the refs blow the whistle. Is that kind of a cheap move? Sure, but it’s winning him games in the playoffs.

So Butler will probably not have quite the scoring output from game one for the rest of the series, but he scored in sustainable ways like getting to the rim and the line, so it’s possible he could get 30 every night. The most concerning thing about the defense on Butler is this stat:

Wesley Matthews played Butler better than anyone, but when it mattered most, Budenholzer kept Pat Connaughton in and put Khris Middleton on Butler down the stretch, which leads me into my next observation, puzzling substitutions and lineups.