4 ways Milwaukee Bucks can avoid elimination in Game 7

The Milwaukee Bucks followed their thrilling Game 5 victory over the Boston Celtics with a dud of a performance in Game 6.

The Bucks blew a chance to win the Eastern Conference Semifinals series at home as the Celtics cruised to a 13-point victory.

The Milwaukee Bucks got within four midway through the fourth quarter, but the Celtics pulled away. The Bucks’ defense had no answer for Jayson Tatum who scored 46 points. He got help from Jaylen Brown who chipped in 22 points and Marcus Smart added 21 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo did his part to give the Milwaukee Bucks a shot at moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals. Giannis had 44 points, 20 rebounds, and knocked down two three-pointers. The rest of the Bucks did not provide much help.

Pat Connaughton had 14 points and hit a couple of threes. Jrue Holiday had a nice start to the game but did not do much else afterward. He finished with 17 points and was -4 for the game.

Now we go to Boston for a pivotal Game 7. The Milwaukee Bucks ceded all momentum back to the Celtics; however, they can still get momentum back and advance by doing these four things

Head coach Mike Budenholzer needs to pull George Hill out of the Milwaukee Bucks rotation.

Hill finally returned to the playoff rotation after missing the first two games and all of the first-round with an injury.

He has contributed almost nothing. He has scored just five points in the series, and his defense has not been up to his standards.

It was a big ask to expect Hill to get into game shape and then go help guard Tatum.

Jevon Carter provided solid minutes in Games 1 and 2 but was banished to the bench when Hill returned, despite being one of only two Bucks this series — Giannis is the other — with a positive plus/minus.

Coach Bud needs to go back to Carter to help off the bench to help keep the season going.

Bobby Portis, Grayson Allen, and Brook Lopez have to find their three-point shot.

All three shot a combined 0-9 from three-point range in Game 6.

Allen, in particular, is having a rough series after his brilliant first-round series against the Chicago Bulls.

Tatum is eating Allen alive when he is being guarded by Grayson. Allen can still make a winning contribution if he can knock down some threes. He needs to find his shot fast as he is 4-20 from three-point range in the series.

Portis made the go-ahead bucket in Game 5 but he has had a mixed series overall. The Milwaukee Bucks could use his three-point shot in Game 7. He is 3-17 from beyond the arc.

Lopez has yet to hit a three so if he can knock down a few long-distance shots that will go a long way as well.

The defensive effort has to be at max effort for 48 minutes.

Wesley Matthews silenced Tatum in Game 3 but other than that, the Milwaukee Bucks have had trouble stopping the Celtics superstar.

The Bucks have also had trouble stopping Brown, Smart, and Al Horford. Some of the problems have been due to ineffective switching on defense.

Another part of the problem is not sealing off the paint like the Bucks have been known to do. The Celtics have scored 132 points in the paint over the last three games. That means 40% of the Celtics’ scoring has come from getting easy looks.

The Bucks have to bring the second-half defense they displayed in Games 1 and 5 where they were forcing turnovers for the entire game.

Finally, the Bucks have got to find a way to make getting shots tough for Tatum or Brown. Even better would be forcing the ball out of their hands and forcing other Celtics to take shots.

Giannis has to have another big game and get some help.

Giannis is meeting the moment so far in this series playing without Khris Middleton. He had a slow start to the series by only scoring 24 points in Game 1 and 28 points in Game 2.

However, he is averaging 40 points and 15 rebounds over the last four games. He has to have another huge night in Game 7.

On top of that, Giannis is going to need help from Holiday, Portis, Connaughton, Allen, and Lopez to bring their offense.

Holiday is averaging 20.8 in the series but he needs to score more than 20 points. In the games the Bucks lost this series, Holiday has scored 19 points or less.

The Boston Celtics’ defense has been good as usual but the Bucks have to find a way for the rest of the team to make baskets if they hope to move on in the playoffs and defend their NBA Championship.