Trae Young continued to play the villain as the Atlanta Hawks stole game one, but can they win another in Milwaukee? Our free NBA picks break down tonight’s game and see who will come out on top.
You know the Bucks will come out hard to make sure they don’t fall down 0-2, but are they able to slow down Young and use their home court advantage to secure the win?
Read on below for tonight’s analysis and winner in tonight’s edition of SportsTips’ free NBA picks!
Atlanta Hawks @ Milwaukee Bucks (Game 2) – 8:30pm EDT
Trae Young has announced himself on the main stage, pouring in a career high 48 points, the most ever in a Conference Finals debut, to hand the Atlanta Hawks a Game One victory. The Milwaukee Bucks gave it everything they could, even leading by seven points with under four minutes to go, but eventually succumbed to Young and the Hawks, losing 113-116.
12 points in the first quarter set the tone for Young, who shot 17-34 (50%) for his career high 48, adding 11 assists and seven boards in a perfect Game One performance on the road. His playmaking allowed others to get involved, connecting especially well with John Collins, who had a 23 point, 15 rebound double double. The duo looked unstoppable in the third quarter, which Atlanta won by eight, connecting multiple times including a ridiculous off the backboard alley oop.
Don’t doubt Trae Young 🥶
The most in a Conference or Division Finals game all-time.
(via @EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/TcehSH1B8v
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 24, 2021
Collins and Clint Capela, who had 12 points and 19 rebounds, exposed a massive problem for the Bucks, with their rebounding and interior play being a massive weakness. Brook Lopez stands at 7 foot tall but is more interested in playing on the perimeter, finishing with just two rebounds, the least of all Milwaukee players who played 10+ minutes. Atlanta outrebounded the Bucks and shot 3.4% better from the field for the game, in a performance that will go down as one of the best Conference Finals performances in recent history.
The worry for Atlanta is that Bogdan Bogdanovic is obviously bothered by his knee injury, managing just four points on 1-6 shooting, while no Atlanta player off the bench was able to reach double figures. Contrast that to Milwaukee who had PJ Tucker and Lopez combine for just 11 points, but had Bobby Portis, who barely played against the Nets, finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in just 15 minutes of action.
Milwaukee’s fate ultimately lies in the hands of their Big Three and on Wednesday night only two of them fired. Khris Middleton, after stepping up big time against the Nets, was nowhere to be found in Game One, shooting 6-23 from the floor and 0-9 from deep, finishing with just 15 points. All he needed to do was score his season average, 20 points, and that could have turned the fate of the game in the Bucks’ favour.
Giannis has made 13 of his last 17 free throws. pic.twitter.com/3wspbtcMpa
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 24, 2021
His poor performance negated the incredible play of both Giannis Antetokounpo and Jrue Holiday, with the pair both shooting 14-25 from the field, scoring 34 and 33 points respectively. Antetokounmpo added 12 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and two blocks in an incredible all-around performance while Holiday had his best game of the postseason, adding 10 assists and two steals to his 33 points.
Atlanta certainly were incredible, winning their third straight Game One in the postseason, but they lost in both of the Game Twos they have played in so far and we are expecting that to happen tonight. The Bucks will respond in a big way following the disappointing result on Wednesday and come out strong, and hard from the jump.
NBA Pick – Milwaukee Bucks (-350)
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Total Points Pick – Unlock Premium Picks
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
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