The Atlanta Hawks took Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. The 116-113 victory was both surprising and telling for both teams. It started off normal enough but the twists and turns in the heart of the game would have made your head spin. The 13 lead changes seemed like twice that as the momentum shifted with every basket.
Both teams will reset a get ready for Game 2 but only won will be trying to recreate Game 1
For the Hawks, they have to take solace in knowing they stole home-court advantage and didn’t need to play their best ball to do it. The Bucks could feel similarly about their play, but they would have to acknowledge all the things that went in their favor just to lose.
Neither team shot well from three-point range, but Milwaukee was dominant on the interior early on. That would change in the second half, but not by accident.
It came down to the wire but it always felt like the Hawks could gut it out.
The Atlanta Hawks took Game 1 and home-court advantage from the Milwaukee Bucks
Even as the Bucks took a seven-point lead with about three minutes left in the fourth, the Hawks didn’t seem phased. Going about their business as they’ve done this entire postseason, Atlanta continues to play their game regardless of the situation. That kind of poise has been throwing off a lot of top contenders lately.
Let’s take a look at how the Hawks won Game 1 and what it means for the rest of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Takeaway from Atlanta Hawks Game 1 win No.1: Trae Youn is a bonafide superstar in this league
Reggie Miller mentioned it several times during the TNT broadcast. In case you haven’t noticed, Young is just 10th in scoring this postseason. But since the start of the second round, he’s sixth. He just took down the player right above him in Joel Embiid. And now he’s got his sights set on the only player above him that’s still playing in Giannis Antetokounmpo.
In Game 1, Young dropped 48 points; the most in a Conference Finals debut and the most by a Hawks player since Dominique Wilkins in 1988. He also had another 11 assists (he trails only the playoff-departed Luka Doncic here), and seven rebounds. Seven!
Young put on a clinic, carving the Bucks up equally throughout the game. He had 12 points in the first quarter and shot 6-of-10 from the floor, though he was 0-for-3 from outside. In the second, he went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc as part of a 5-for-6 quarter.
The third was more of the same. Young still gave the Bucks buckets, with another 12 points.
It was the fourth quarter, though, where he showed what adds that “super” to his already certified stardom. Young was absolutely dreadful from the floor as the Bucks honed in on him (perhaps a bit too late). He was 1-for-7 from the floor and 0-for-4 from three. But he was able to get to the free-throw line 10 times, hitting nine of them, giving him 11 for the quarter.
Trae Young led the Atlanta Hawks to another upset victory in Game 1 over the Milwaukee Bucks
It’s that added ability to affect the game when his three-ball has been off or the floater isn’t falling that makes him special. A lot of guys can shoot deep threes now and make a lot of fancy passes. Not too many of those guys can get to the line the way Young has this postseason.
The way he runs the Hawks (Atlanta is first in pace since the start of the second round) gave the Bucks the biggest fit of all and might be the key to this series.
Takeaway from Atlanta Hawks Game 1 win No.2: The offense needs the ball to move even if Young ends up shooting
It’s written simply because it is. The Hawks let the game come to them through three quarters. Even when they struggled to hit shots in the first quarter they were getting good looks. After being scorching hot through three quarters, Young opted for long threes instead early on in the fourth.
What happened next is probably the easiest thing to predict besides the fact there would be a winner and a loser.
The Bucks not only closed the gap, but they also took the lead. One that might make most teams sweat but the Hawks kept their cool. While Young was going through his thing in the final frame, his teammates went 8-of-15.
Young carried the Hawks through three quarters, scoring or assisting on 18 of their 20 points during one particular stretch in the third. In the second half he got help from John Collins and Clint Capela. Collins had 17 of his 23 points in the second half. 10 of those came in the third as he also caught another body while catching an off-the-backboard oop from Young.
Capela — who scored six of his 12 points and eight of his 19 rebounds in the fourth quarter — drew Giannis and just kept doing what he did the last round against Embiid.
The Greek Freak and company got whatever they wanted inside. But Capela just kept grinding away down low and by the end, they didn’t want them anymore. Those shots weren’t falling and they began to settle for jumpers.
Pat Connaughton’s air-balled three near the end of the game was emblematic of Milwaukee’s struggles all game.
The Hawks continued to struggle from outside too, but just made more plays down the stretch after looking like the sluggish team out the gates. It’s the third time this postseason that Atlanta has won the first game in a series.
They obviously won both and nothing we saw on Wednesday suggests this time will be different.
Takeaway from Atlanta Hawks Game 1 win No.3: Nate McMilla has done a magnificent job at the helm
Nate McMillan needs to have the ‘interim’ tag removed expeditiously. Full Stop. The job he’s done taking this team from six games below .500 to three wins away from it’s first NBA Finals since 1961 cannot be overstated. But we won’t get too far ahead, there’s far too much basketball left for that and the Bucks won’t be rolling over.
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Besides, McMillan did a heck of a job in the opening act of the Eastern Conference Finals.
It’s his first time beyond the second round as a coach so this is a case of someone learning and teaching on the fly.
Juxtapose that to his counterpart in Mike Budenholzer who’s ability to “draw one up” might come into question following the ending of this one. Never forget Head coach and Vice President of Basketball Operations Budenholzer stepped down from both positions with the Hawks back in 2017.
Don’t think that’s lost on the Hawks.
McMillan also keeps dialing up the right subs, tabbing Solomon Hill in this one. Hill hadn’t played double-digit minutes since Game 5 against Philadelphia. He logged a little over 20 minutes on Wednesday night.
He only score four points but he gave McMillan good minutes and played good defense while picking up just two personal fouls.
His play was huge because McMillan also kept Bogdan Bogdanovic active despite his clearly being limited by his knee injury. Bogdanovic would finish with four points and an awful shooting percentage. But he had three steals and made several smart plays with the ball.
McMillan showed faith in both and they rewarded him. His calm demeanor no matter the situation shows as this team almost plays better when they’re behind the eight-ball.