4 biggest reasons Milwaukee Bucks won NBA Finals

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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JULY 11: Khris Middleton #22 of the Milwaukee Bucks blocks a shot by Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns at Fiserv Forum on July 11, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bucks defeated the Suns 120-100. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

3. Defense

Milwaukee flexed their defense on every team they played this postseason.

They seemed to have the flexible personnel to match up with a plethora of teams from Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets to Trae Young’s pick-and-roll game to Chris Paul and Devin Booker’s team offense with the Phoenix Suns. No matter the opponent, Milwaukee rose to the occasion.

Their 106.8 defensive rating was best by any team throughout the playoffs despite playing increasingly better teams as they advanced deeper and deeper.

As usual, it all started with rim defense. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Bucks only allowed teams to get 23.7 percent of their shots within four feet of the hoop–tops amongst all teams in the playoffs. And when opponents got there, they only converted on a playoff low 62.1 percent of their looks. That’s the Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo factor.

Jrue Holiday and P.J. Tucker also took turns putting guys in jail. Sure, there were games when Kevin Durant, Trae Young, and Devin Booker went off–that’s what they’re going to do, they’re great offensive players–but Holiday and Tucker made them work on every possession. It wore them down and slowed offenses down to a palp. In the end, the Bucks’ defense was dominant and took over games at a time.

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