Ron Swanson wrote:Brewhoopfan wrote:The Pacers have consistently created better shots. using much less effort.
Dame has been incredible, but he's working incredibly hard just to get the ball. It's no surprise he's slowing down in the 2nd half. Middleton has been really god especially given how hard he's had to work just to get off tough shots. Contrast that with how easy Siakam is getting the ball where he wants it.
Indy is putting the Bucks into a simple action (usually PnR or PnP), then just picking them apart once they scramble to recover. The Pacers didn't settle for jumpshots like game 1, and then the 3s started falling. Giannis isn't fixing this defense as there's just too many broken parts. But, I do think he can help the Bucks outscore the Pacers.
I mean, last night they absolutely did, but that certainly wasn't the case in Game 1. Siakam doing his best KD impression opens up everything for their offense. I mean, this is a guy who's a low-40's mid-range scorer and 27% 3PT shooter for his career in the playoffs, and he's on an incredible heater right now. The overall strategy of baiting him and Turner into launching threes is a sound one, but without Giannis to matchup against one of those two, you're left with Brook trying to cover too much ground while Bobby just gets erased from any play with a simple high screen. Said after last game that these non-Giannis games were still gonna come down to how the Bobby/Brook front court minutes hold up defensively, and nothing has changed my mind. Giannis coming back and putting him on Siakam changes everything.
I'm not sure "baiting" is the right word. Both of them are proven capable shooters. It just so happens to be the least worst option given the Bucks defensive capabilities. AKA: hope they miss which did happen for 1 game.