Eastern Conference Finals Atlanta Hawks vs Milwaukee Bucks: Preview and Predictions

Everybody expected a Philadelphia/Brooklyn Conference finals but the hawks and Bucks pulled off game 7 upsets on the road to bring us to this matchup. The Hawks were expected to still be a year or two away coming into these playoffs but that has changed quickly behind Trae Young. The Bucks are living up to expectations and Giannis who has caught a lot of flack for not being able to make a deep playoff run has somewhat quieted his critics in these playoffs. If you want to bet on this Eastern Conference finals matchup go to the best site for online basketball betting. Now, Let’s take a look at this matchup.

Jrue Holiday

Trae Young will be impossible to stop and Jrue Holiday will need help to hopefully try to at least slow Young down. On the offensive end of the floor, Holiday will have to shot better than he did against the Bucks. Holiday shot just 26 percent from three-point range and only 36 percent overall and if concentrating more on defense in this series makes his shooting that bad or possibly even worse it will put a ton of pressure on Giannis to come up big in this series.

Pressure on Giannis

This is the Freak’s opportunity to step up and do what has been expected from him for some time now, as a two-time KIA MVP Giannis may never get a better opportunity to win an NBA Title. That will make the pressure on him immense in this series and this really could be a career-defining series for Giannis. If the Bucks as a heavy favorite lose this series the echoes of Giannis can’t get it done in the playoffs will grow louder and louder. The 6-foot-11 force of nature was close to his overall numbers in three games against Atlanta this season — 24.3 ppg, 11.0 RPG, 4.7 APG, 64.3% shooting — but he’ll need to play smarter than he did in the early games against Brooklyn. By smarter I mean do NOT get three-point happy against the Hawks, Giannis has to play under control and let the game come to him, if he does the Bucks should win this series.

Defense wins championships

Milwaukee ranks in the top five in all of the “four factors” on defense, No. 1 in both defensive rebounding percentage and opponent free throw rate (19.3 attempts per 100 shots from the field). Plus, the Bucks defense has been even better in the playoffs than it was in the regular season. The Hawks are undersized and defense especially in the low post could be the deciding factor.

Series Prediction

The Hawks were not expected to be here yet, but Trae Young is a spectacular player and has been the driving force in this magical Hawks run. In the end, though the Bucks defense and post play will be too much for the Hawks. I like the Bucks in 5, I just don’t see where the Hawks will be able to score enough points to win games in this series.