Seventeen days earlier, an NBA title contender joined a guard with NBA All-Defensive honors to his name to take on the challenge of defending Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young in Game 1 of a playoff series. In the opening swoop of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night, another NBA title contender handed Young to an All-NBA defender.
Young dominated Jrue Holiday and the rest of the Milwaukee Bucks' defense in Game 1 on the road as he engulfed Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons in the conference semifinals. Young claimed complete control of the game, chasing 48 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in the Hawks' 116–113 win over the Bucks.
Creating a game plan to defend Young on high pick-and-roll is the first item on any opponent's to-do list. Beginning on Wednesday, the Bucks began their most common tactic - dropping their big men in the paint as Young's defender fights across the screen. Young, a virtuoso of both floater and lob, races to the rim, taking advantage of space in front of Milwaukee's backpedaling defenders.
"It's tough," said Holiday. "Especially when he's making his floaters, it seems like everything is going to hell."
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton each painted Young as their "comfort zone" in Game 1. Swinging around the Hawks' bread-and-butter double screen at the top of the floor, Young attacked downhill, found Clint Capella and John Collins on several occasions, and grabbed four 3-pointers.
"We have to do a better job on that in depth," Antetokounmpo said. "He's going to score downhill for the lob, and that's his confidence. I think we just have to make it as hard as possible for him, he's going to have to play one lot after the other. But at the end of the day, He had 48 points, he's a great player, like he's going to score with a punch."
It is unimaginable that Young could drop 48 points in a conference final, to an opponent's floor, and not engage in some theatrics.
In an embarrassing situation for Milwaukee at the end of the third quarter, Young came off a screen. As Bobby Portis descended into the paint and Holiday was dispatched by a crossover dribble, Young had more than three seconds to set himself behind the arch, with no Bucks player within several feet. If it was James Harden, he would be licking his lips. But Young is his own man, and as he waited for the Milwaukee defender who would never come, he shrugged his shoulders before launching and taking out a 3-pointer.
"Ever since I was in middle school—when I was going on the street in middle school—I've always loved playing on the street," Young said. "I loved playing against an opposing crowd, an opposing team. It's like you're really just with your team, and it's just they're in the building. I think it really brings our group together." "
When Young made his next trip upcourt, he was picked up by a switch by Antetokounmpo, as the Bucks were cut short for the final 14 minutes of the game. During those 14 minutes, Young made only one attempt out of nine shot attempts off the field, rolling the ball twice and recording three assists.
Although the Bucks have remained largely faithful to their drop coverage in each of the last two seasons—Milwaukee ranked 15th out of 16 playoff teams in possession per Switch last season—they spent most of this regular season. Spent in different farming laboratory. Plans he made for the playoffs included more switching to deploy more flexibility and even zone out on the spot.
On Wednesday night, the disparity between Atlanta's production of pick-and-roll to Milwaukee's switch and their more traditional plan was apparent. According to Second Spectrum, the Hawks generated 1.07 points per chance when the Bucks did not switch – but only 0.64 points per chance when they did.
Going short doesn't come without risk for Buck. Atlanta scored four offensive rebounds in the final 3:01 of the game, which translated into seven points, including a go-forward putback by Capella with 29.8 seconds remaining, which would prove decisive.
"I think the most frustrating part of this game is the offensive rebellion," Antetokounmpo said. "We had two or three offensive rebounds back to back and he got 3 of it. He got the game-winning bucket by Clint Capela."
Although Holiday served as Young's primary defender in Game 1, Young scored the Buckets against six different Bucks. One holiday teammate who spent time on Young was guard Jeff Teague, who played only 31 minutes in Milwaukee's 11 post-season games in the first two rounds. Coach Mike Budenholzer took Teague for a test drive, but insisted on the buck's railing, entrusting him with guarding Young. He was defended by Teague in short time, Young went three-for-three off the field for eight points.
Budenholzer emphasized that the most prudent approach to Young would require presenting him differently. Holiday works Yeoman, but as Young has demonstrated, even the elite guards struggle to stop him—until they have length. Milwaukee has had enough of it - including one particularly tall, versatile defender at Antetokounmpo - but Young will continue to see a happy round of defenders.
The Bucks value Lopez a lot - his rim safety, his rebounding and his range on the offensive end. But if Wednesday's loss to Milwaukee offers anything positive, it's the same breakthrough he found against Young when he opened up his switching defense with a smaller lineup.
Whatever the Bucks choose to throw at Young, the act of slowing it down is a load.
"I've seen pretty much every defense," Young said, when asked if he was surprised by the place he found against Milwaukee's defense. "It's really just figuring out what kind of defense they're showing that night. So I'm not surprised. For me, it's just getting the right reading and trying to figure out how they're going to defend." They defend a certain way, and just trying to pretend and attack that way.