Atlanta Hawks: How Nate McMillan changed his rotations for the better
After the Atlanta Hawks lost their second straight game of the series, falling behind 1-2, he was asked if he would change his rotations. Well, the injury to Trae Young forced his hand and what he did worked really well.
The first change was obviously the starting point guard where Young was unable to play due to the bone bruise in his ankle caused by the referee last game. Lou Williams started a playoff game for the first time in his career and showed why he is multiple award winner in the NBA.
This had a trickle-down effect on the rest of the bench. Without Williams’ production or the threat of his production, it meant that coach Nate McMillan had to rethink his bench rotations. Fortunately, the Hawks have had a number of players return from injury and McMillan was able to utilize them.
The Atlanta Hawks bench got so much better defensively.
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Due to his lack of offense especially during the playoffs, Solomon Hill did not get any court time in the fourth game of the series. McMillan turned to Cam Reddish who has recently returned from injury to get an offensive boost as well as pressuring the Bucks defensively.
He did this while filling the box score up with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in just 23 minutes of game time. He formed a tremendous pairing with Kris Dunn whose defense led to multiple poor looks from the Bucks on offense.
It had an influence on the big man rotation as well. Onyeka Okongwu has shown that he is not afraid to play Giannis Antetokounmpo. He also has a tremendous connection with Williams and McMillan was able to use these factors to the benefit of the Hawks.
Next. Kevin Huerter is huge for this team. dark
The Hawks do not know if Trae Young will be back next game, nor do they know if Antetokounmpo will be playing. One thing that is almost certain, is that McMillan will start using more Reddish than Hill moving forward.