The sky is no longer falling in Milwaukee. Three-pointers, on the other hand, those fell one after another for the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum.
On Sunday, player after player in the Bucks locker room used the same phrase, saying they got "punched in the mouth" by the Boston Celtics in a 22-point, Game 1 loss. Two days removed from their biggest loss of the season, the Bucks responded with a haymaker of their own.
Buoyed by 20 three-pointers – a franchise playoff record – and suffocating, switching defense, Milwaukee evened their second-round NBA playoff series in dominant fashion with a 123-102 victory in front of a sellout crowd that went wild as the margin reached as many as 31 points.
“You’ve got to come out and win Game 2, get back on track," Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said. "That’s what we did tonight. That’s how we’ve responded all season long. That’s what’s great about this team.”
Khris Middleton caught fire early, making five three-pointers before halftime, part of a 7 of 10 night from long range for the all-star forward. He particularly let loose in transition, pulling up for triples or leaking into the corner, often serving as a release valve for Antetokounmpo who faced a wall of Celtics all focused on stopping his drives.
Eleven of Middleton's 28 points came in the second quarter alone, with his shooting from deep highlighting a half in which Milwaukee made 11 of 26 triples.
Middleton's barrage wasn't something that caught the Celtics by surprise -- they saw plenty of that last season. They knew what could be coming even heading into Tuesday's game.
The difference wasn't just the level at which the Bucks were playing on defense. More than every other game this season, the Bucks switched against screens, with players one-through-four doing most of the switching.
“In Game 1 we got beat one-on-one, screen-and-roll, (Al) Horford popping getting wide open looks," Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe said. "When we looked at it in film, we just thought that was the right thing. Coach Bud did a great job, his staff did a great job of making adjustments.
"In the playoffs, you’ve got to make adjustments and that’s one of the biggest adjustments we made.”
In addition to Antetokounmpo and Middleton, Bledsoe put up 21 points, five assists and three rebounds. He was a threat inside and out as well as an antagonist on defense, spending plenty of time tracking Irving the length of the court.
