Wednesday was the start of the Eastern Conference Finals with the Milwaukee Bucks facing off the Atlanta Hawks. For the Bucks, they will not be satisfied this season without an NBA championship. As for the Hawks, they are new to going this deep in the playoffs.
Game 1 was an all-out battle of Eastern Conference teams as the Hawks came away with a narrow win with the final score being 116 to 113. Trae Young was fantastic in game one scoring a huge 48 points with 11 assists and 7 rebounds.
Giannis Antetokounmpo also had a monster game dropping 34 points with 9 assists and 12 rebounds, but Antetokounmpo’s efforts were not enough as the Hawks stole a road win in Game 1.
Game 1 was a back-and-forth affair the entire time. According to The Athletic, “Trailing 98-96, the Bucks went on a 9-0 run to take the lead with under five minutes remaining, but the Hawks stormed back behind Young and John Collins (23 points, 15 rebounds). Clint Capela scored a put-back with 29.8 seconds left to give the Hawks a 112-111 lead they wouldn’t relinquish”.
Bucks and Hawks put on a show in Game 1
In the first quarter, the Bucks seemed to be giving Young his floater and taking everything else away. But after he completed a few lobs to the Hawks’ big men he started to hit threes and then eventually got everything he wanted. Towards the end of the game, Milwaukee put Antetokounmpo at the 5 in a small-ball lineup and switched up everything defensively. This caught the Hawks’ offensive off guard but the Bucks gave up multiple offensive rebounds that ended up costing them the game.
Going forward in this critical series Milwaukee has to be tougher on Trae Young. It is absolutely crucial that the Bucks do not let Young have another night like Wednesday. How they do that will be interesting. Whether it is a new defender on Trae or a completely different defensive plan, something must be done if the Bucks want to make a 2021 NBA Finals appearance.
As for Atlanta, they have to build on this win and take Game two before the Bucks figure out how to contain Trae Young. Either way whoever wins this series will get a chance to represent the Eastern Conference and a chance to play for an NBA championship against either the Suns or the Clippers.