Main Reasons Why the Milwaukee Bucks Made it to the 2021 NBA Finals

The Milwaukee Bucks have reached their first Finals since 1974 and have done so with great players, offseason moves, and coaching. Players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton have been key to this team for a few years now, and the signing of Jrue Holiday has elevated them to the next level. Paired with these studs is head coach Mike Budenholzer and his key adjustments throughout the playoffs that has made for the perfect Finals-caliber recipe.

Trading for Jrue Holiday

When Milwaukee gave up a lofty amount of picks for Jrue Holiday over the offseason, it served multiple purposes. The biggest one was to convince its all-world talent Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign with the Bucks long-term. Giving up Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, and those future assets have already paid off because the Greek Freak signed his max extension and ensured MIL will be contending for years to come as long as he stays healthy.

The other main purpose of trading for Jrue Holiday was to add a standout two-way player who is the perfect fit to play alongside Giannis and Khris Middleton as an All-NBA caliber defender with an offensive skillset that’s capable of basically anything on a basketball court. Milwaukee needed to improve in these critical situations that decide champions and Jrue Holiday has proven he’s the perfect man for the job.

Holiday has been huge for the Bucks as he’s not only a proven scorer in crunch time like Middleton, but he can also prevent the other team’s best playmaker from rising to the occasion themselves. The reigning 2x MVP will always be the face of the team, the most productive player throughout the game, and receive the majority of the credit/blame. However, the addition of Holiday has made the difference in those season-changing moments that have decided the Bucks’ fortune in recent years like when he scored the game-winning FGM in Game 3 and stopped KD’s GW-FGA in Game 7.

Extending Giannis

Despite winning each of the last two NBA MVP awards, not much has been said about Giannis Antetokounmpo now that he’s signed his super-max contract extension, and will no longer reach free agency after the season. He didn’t get much MVP consideration with his numbers slightly down across the board and the Bucks didn’t have as great of a regular season as they had the two previous seasons.

However, going beyond the surface of Milwaukee’s W-L record and Giannis’ box score statistics shows the Greek Freak making himself more valuable than ever. While he “only” scored 28.1 PPG this year compared to 29.5 last year, it’s because he’s taking less shots, specifically less three-point attempts. Considering Antetokounmpo has never been a big outside threat and has rarely hit even 30% of those 3PA’s, it’s much more valuable for the offense when he’s not taking those outside shots.

Instead, he’s using his world-class length to constantly penetrate his way into the paint and is finding open teammates more than ever, tying a career-high 5.9 APG. His two biggest weaknesses, and really the only two weaknesses in his game, has been his lack of a consistent jump shot/free throw and not being much of a facilitator for others. This season, he shot almost one 3PA less per game than he did last season, and is paving the way for his Milwaukee teammates to get better shots more often than ever.

He’s also pairing this evolved offensive play-style with the same Defensive Player of the Year-caliber play on that side of the ball as well. Giannis might not be as productive as years past, but he’s playing unselfish basketball and doing what’s best to win games which makes him as valuable as he’s ever been at 26 years old with as bright of a future as any player in the league.

Bud's Key Adjustments

The 2018-19 NBA Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer came into this season with high expectations and was on the hot seat due to coming up short with a talented roster in previous seasons. Budenholzer and the Bucks finally got over the hump and reached the franchise’s first NBA Finals since 1974.

Coach Bud came up big in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, slowing down the Hawks’ late push, and giving Jeff Teague more minutes against a team in an arena for which he was an All-Star previously. Teague was extremely efficient, going three for three from beyond the arc, scoring 11 points in only 12 minutes. Budenholzer also made the adjustment for bigs to switch on screens instead of dropping back which gave Atlanta open shots in Games 1-4.

It’s decisions like this that have helped Milwaukee finally reach the Finals with this star-studded squad, and Budenholzer proved the doubters wrong, showing that he is indeed a top-tier coach in this league and the right man to coach one of this generation’s greatest players. He’ll need to make the same kind of adjustments throughout the rest of this Finals series to overcome the offensive onslaught the Suns executed in Game 1.