Short-handed Bucks need to tap into their ‘next-man-up-mentality’ going into Game 4

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Short-handed Bucks need to tap into their ‘next-man-up-mentality’ going into Game 4

INDIANAPOLIS — Pat Connaughton has been with the Milwaukee Bucks for the last six seasons. He has seen just about everything in his tenure, so he had no interest in making excuses while talking with reporters outside of a ballroom in the team’s hotel in Indianapolis. But before explaining the Bucks’ path forward, he wanted to make one thing clear.

“For the record, them being hurt does suck,” Connaughton said following the Bucks’ film session on Saturday.

“Them” are the Bucks’ three best players. As Milwaukee prepares for Game 4 on Sunday Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton, all find themselves on the injury report.

Antetokounmpo started the postseason on the injury report with a left soleus (calf) strain, which he suffered on April 9 against the Boston Celtics. Following the team’s film session on Saturday, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers told reporters Saturday was an off day for Antetokounmpo and that the Bucks’ two-time NBA MVP forward would “go hard early and then we’re going to make a decision after that” on Sunday. Rivers admitted he doubted Antetokounmpo would be able to workout early on Sunday and then be cleared to play in Game 4.

Lillard joined the injury report on Saturday with a right Achilles strain he suffered on one of the final plays of the fourth quarter of the Bucks’ 121-118 Game 3 overtime loss. Shortly before Connaughton stepped in front of the media, Lillard slowly walked by reporters in a walking boot on his right foot and on Saturday afternoon, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Lillard suffered an Achilles injury. The Bucks listed him as doubtful for Sunday with right Achilles tendinitis.

Middleton is listed as probable for Game 4 with a right ankle sprain. He played through that same injury on his way to 42 points in 41 minutes of action of Game 3 on Friday. Rivers told reporters they still needed to make sure that everything felt right for Middleton when he woke up on Sunday, but he felt confident Middleton should be able to play with the Bucks down 2-1 to the Pacers.

Knowing the Bucks might be without Antetokounmpo and Lillard for Game 4, Connaughton explained why the Bucks don’t plan on just giving up and how they’re keeping their morale up.

“I think for us, it’s our competitive nature,” Connaughton said. “We believe we have a locker room of great players and we have guys that can have a ‘next-man-up mentality’ and can play. We have guys who have been situations and obviously delivered in the past, especially in the postseason. So making sure we lean on them.

“Just making sure that we don’t let those things mentally let us off the hook. It’s the playoffs. Everyone’s dealing with something, on our side, on their side, how do we fight through it? How do we find ways to win one game, win a battle? Overall, the series will be the war, but try to win a battle on Sunday and make sure we do it together and make sure we pick each other up with whatever it might be.”

If the Bucks are going to pull off a major upset without Antetokounmpo and Lillard, the Bucks are going to have to play with real purpose on both ends.

Defensively, it will be simple to build on Game 3. They gave up 32 second-chance points on 19 offensive rebounds by the Pacers. If the Bucks make a more concerted effort to get a body on every Pacer when a shot goes up, they will perform better defensively.

“We did a lot of good things; we just couldn’t get the ball after they missed,” Rivers said Saturday. “Our initial defense, I think they shot like 31 percent, it was after they got the rebound and scored on the fourth possession is when they were scoring.”

“A lot of that was guards,” Rivers continued. “I don’t read much, but I’m sure people think it’s our bigs, a lot of it was our guards. And a lot of it was preventable. Some, they just got some great bounces, that happens in a game, but there were many where we didn’t hit. You gotta put a body on a body, you gotta block out. I’ve heard that since grade school. We have to do it and we have to do a better job, but we have to find guys and I don’t think we located our guys.”

Offensively, it will be quite a bit more difficult, but it will also be about playing with intentionality and purpose.

The Bucks outplayed the Pacers for the final three quarters of Game 3, but their first-quarter performance was so disastrous all they could do was tie the game in the final three quarters and force overtime. For a second straight game, the Bucks lost their discipline on the offensive end and they paid for it.

“After the first nine minutes, the pressure didn’t bother us anymore,” Rivers said Saturday. “We got into everything that we wanted. We ran our stuff. Our guys finally realized, ‘OK. It’s pressure. That’s it.’ We handled it. I thought the first nine minutes of the game, they rushed us. We were breaking every set. We couldn’t even run a set. That’s why they got the lead, so I’m hoping that carries over to this game.”

When the Bucks don’t take the right shots and force the wrong ones, the Pacers take advantage of it on the other end with easy buckets in transition. If Antetokounmpo and Lillard are unable to play Sunday, the Bucks will have to be careful with the ball and play with purpose, only taking the shots they want to and leaning into actions for their strongest offensive players.

In a normal situation, instead of the end of a quarter, the Bucks would want to get into this action sooner to give Middleton time to deal with any extra attention, such as traps or double teams, that the Pacers might send his way, but this is a purposeful set. The Pacers have worked to deny Middleton the ball all series long, so one of the easiest ways to get him a touch is setting a screen.

On the play above, the Pacers were forced to honor Connaughton’s drive because Middleton set a good screen and Connaughton drove hard at Aaron Nesmith. On the pass, Nesmith was able to scramble back to his original assignment, but the Bucks still managed to get Middleton the ball inside the arc with a live dribble in a place he could attack with good spacing around him.

If the Bucks run something like that again on Sunday and get Middleton the ball in the same place, the Pacers will have tough decisions to make. If they let Middleton work in isolation, he showed the ability to score on Nesmith throughout Game 2. But if they send help, Middleton will be able to see the help in advance and find a teammate.

Without Antetokounmpo and Lillard, their best creators, the Bucks will need to cut and screen with a purposeful end goal in mind on each possession.

Defenses have to respect Middleton’s ability to score off the dribble, so the Bucks need to leverage that to open up opportunities for the rest of the roster with good cuts and screens. This play starts with a pick-and-roll between Middleton and Portis, but the initial action is just a decoy to get post position for Portis on the left block, his favorite spot on the floor.

From there, Portis can operate and put up points as he did in the second half of Game 3 when he scored 15 on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. His performance helped the Bucks climb back into the game and eventually take the lead. If the Bucks are going to pull off an upset in Game 4, they will need Portis at his best for the entire game.

On Saturday, Rivers told reporters he believed the Pacers’ pressure forced the Bucks to post Portis up on the “wrong” side, the right block, far too often in Game 3. And that along with being more purposeful with their own play in the second half, Portis also slowed down.

“It was not us getting him going; more, he just settled down,” Rivers said of Portis’ play in the second half. “Bobby was going really fast in the beginning of the game, for whatever reason. The pressure kind of pushed us.

“But once he settled down and got into Bobby’s pace, I think Bobby is unguardable. I’ve told him that multiple times in timeouts. And then once he started to do it, he saw it. So he’ll be a better Bobby tomorrow.”

If the Bucks leverage Middleton and Portis correctly, they can create shots for their others as well.

That was a simple action for A.J. Green, but the open shot for their second-year sharpshooter in the third quarter was the perfect example of playing with purpose on the offensive end.

The Pacers will have every action for those other players scouted much better and they’ll be far more prepared to take those things away in Game 4. But simply avoiding turnovers and taking the right shots with proper floor balance, even if missed, will allow the Bucks to score points and position the Bucks better on the defensive end.

“We’re one game away from being an even series,” Rivers said. “This is the playoffs. Things happen. Obviously you don’t want injuries to happen but when they do, you have to just pull in for one game until you figure you get more guys back and that’s how you have to do it.”

It won’t be easy for the Bucks to steal Game 4 in Indianapolis, but it also isn’t impossible, as long as the Bucks play with purpose on both ends of the floor.

(Photo of Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis: Joshua Gateley / Getty Images)