Bucks finally find their rhythm
The Milwaukee Bucks are halfway through their "seeding" games at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Their first four games were disjointed, unsurprising given the four months off after the season was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But the Bucks finally found their championship-contending form in the second half against the Miami Heat on Thursday. The 130-116 victory clinched the No. 1 seeding in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
It will be interesting to see how the Bucks play the next four games, including Saturday night against the Dallas Maver
icks, before the playoffs begin. The Bucks don't have anything to play for, but they want to stay sharp.
Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer finally had his preferred rotation against Miami. Eric Bledsoe and Pat Connaughton missed the first two games after positive coronavirus tests delayed their arrivals in Orlando. Key reserve Marvin Williams sat out the first game of the restart against the Boston Celtics because of a groin injury and starters Brook Lopez and Wes Matthews were inactive against the Brooklyn Nets.
The first half was ugly against the Heat, but the Bucks finally put everything together after halftime.
"We just tried to play our type of basketball that we haven't been playing the last couple games," Bledsoe said on Friday. "That's come out and play hard.
"Offense is going to come. We just got to play hard on defense and look out for each other. And just compete."
The Bucks outscored the Heat, 7443, after halftime and dramatically tightened their defense after allowing Miami to score 73 points in the first half.
Bledsoe and Connaughton looked like they had shaken off most of the rust. After each played 18 minutes in their "bubble" debuts against the Nets, Bledsoe saw 23 minutes against the Heat and Connaughton 21.
Bledsoe finished with nine points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. He was a big part of two key runs in the fourth quarter.
"I thought the third quarter, I thought he found his rhythm defensively a little bit," Budenholzer said. "I thought he was disruptive on the defensive end and then the fourth quarter it felt like he found his rhythm on both ends."
Connaughton had 11 points off the bench on 4-for-8 shooting.
"Those guys haven't played basketball in a long time," Bucks guard Khris Middleton said. "Just like we hadn't in our first scrimmage game.
"It's good to see them out there getting more minutes. The more minutes they get, the more confidence they have to be their former selves."
The Bucks shut the door on the Heat with a steamrolling, 20-0 run late in the fourth quarter. They looked again like the team that rampaged to the best record in the league before the shutdown.
"We need those type (of) games," Bledsoe said. "You never know how the playoffs are going to go. You need those type of games to get back on track."
Two losses in their first three games at Disney World and the poor first half against the Heat raised some concerns. But the dominant second half showed the Bucks are still championship hopefuls.
"We're getting there," Middleton said. "But at the same time our focus isn't being the same team we were ... it's all about being better. Being sharper. Being smarter. That's what we have to be in order to get to where we want to get."