Atlanta Hawks: Cam Reddish is how to stop Jrue Holiday
The Atlanta Hawks found themselves on the receiving end of a blowout in the second game of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. They lost the game by a brutal 34 points and while Giannis Antetokounmpo was huge, his wingman in the past two games has been Jrue Holiday.
Holiday was incredible in the first game, keeping the Bucks close, while also trying to keep Trae Young in check. While he failed in the first game to accomplish this as Young had the game of his life, he did a much better job in the second game. This was one of the main reasons that the Bucks won the game.
Offensively, Holiday has been very strong in this series, after struggling in the Nets second-round series. In the first game, he had 33 points, ten assists, four rebounds, two steals, and a block in 42 minutes. He was 14-of-25 from the floor, including 5-of-12 from beyond the arc.
The Atlanta Hawks could not stop Jrue Holiday in the second game either.
If you can believe it, Holiday was even better on offense in the second game. He was 9-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. His only blemish was that he went 1-of-3 from the line, but given how he played defense on Young, the Bucks will forgive him on that.
More from Soaring Down South
- Start, Bench, Cut: Sorting through the Hawks’ power forward options
- Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic reacts to earning FIBA World Cup championship bid
- When does training camp start for the Atlanta Hawks?
- Grade the trade: Hawks deal Trae Young to Clippers in shocking proposal
- Dejounte Murray rips NBA 2K after Atlanta Hawks ratings reveal
Holiday would finish with 22 points, seven assists, two rebounds, and one of both a block and a steal. So, the question needs to be asked, how do you stop a playing who is going as well as Holiday is at the moment.
The answer is simple, and yet painful for the Hawks. They need to sit Bogdan Bogdanovic as he is so limited with his knee injury and start Cam Reddish. While this may be a huge call, the Hawks are not getting much production offensively out of Bogdanovic, and Reddish will be able to stay with Holiday.
This will hopefully mean that Holiday’s percentages will go down which will give the Hawks a better chance at winning their next two home games. This will also potentially help Bogdanovic’s knee get a bit better which will help his shooting later in the series.
Next. John Collins needs to take a step up on defense. dark
Reddish is the better defender of the two and can also help by switching out on Khris Middleton with Kevin Huerter. While Coach McMillan may be concerned about Reddish’s lack of playing time, if he is truly fit and back to playing games, he needs to trust Reddish who can still make a big impact in the postseason.