Did you know that Jru Holliday currently has the most effective offensive season in his career? I certainly didn’t do it before Bucks’ game on Wednesday night against Miami, but I’m doing it now. Although Janice Adetokunmpo receives all the love and right, and Chris Middleton is considered an almost stellar assistant, Holiday has always been the Milwaukee player who kills from the shadows.
As a reliable third option, Holiday can hunt better matches than his two more famous players and Bucks is not afraid to design winning games for him. Whether planned or not, that’s exactly what happened in Milwaukee on Wednesday, and Holiday completed Bucks’ furious return to grab what seemed like a sure victory for Miami. The Heat increased by 14 points, leaving only six minutes before the game, and then suddenly Holiday found himself in the bucket for a winning game.
After Miami passed an incoming ball until it rose 13.5 seconds left, Adetokunmpo overtook Jimmy Butler with a jumping ball that fell from Bobby Portis. Portis handed it over to Holiday immediately, and the rest of the Bucks, perhaps seeing that their point guard was with Gabe Vincent, cleared up. This allowed Holiday to reach the three points, turn on the jets, overturn Vincent and drop the ball just above Bam Adebayo’s outstretched hand.
One missed Tyler Hero’s despair three later and Milwaukee dropped the current No. 1 in the East.
Although there had to be a whole surge of Bucks to get there, Miami took a 113-99 lead with six minutes to go and 119-115 with less than 30 seconds to go, and both leads had to be felt. sure, if not the fact that they played with the defending champions in Milwaukee – Holiday’s winning ranking is a perfect example of the value he can bring. He is not always needed for the shots at the end of the match; Adetokunmpo is always a threat to enter the strip alone, and Middleton beat Miami only 10 months ago in the playoffs.
Holiday looks both pleased and deadly experienced in his third banana role, and that’s all there is to it. For the season, the 31-year-old guard, who was acquired at the end of 2020, averaged 18.3 points per game, with nearly seven assists, five rebounds and his usually incredible ball defense. He also shoots the best of his career with 50.8 percent off the field and an equally high score (41.4 percent) of three points. On Wednesday, he was roughly around those scores, scoring 25 in shooting 8 out of 17 (3 out of 8 out of three) and adding 11 assists. On the return of Bucks from 14 down by a quarter to the end, he scored seven points and assisted in scoring Antetokounmpo. He was everywhere in defense, helping Miami keep six points during that time. He was essential.
There are two ways to watch Wednesday’s game. The one that is less charitable to Bucks is that Miami shot 47.7 percent of three, broke the franchise record for threes in play, and had those two big leads at crucial moments before failing. However, the reality is closer: Milwaukee is still one of the best teams in the NBA, loaded across the court and with three players able to take the games and win them straight. Although Adetokunmpo was the main driver in the return and his victory over Butler allowed the drama in the last second, Holiday was the one who found himself with the ball and the game on the line.
The Bucks had time-outs if they wanted to develop a game for Adetokunmpo or Middleton, who had just hit a three-pointer to reduce the gap to one, but decided to rely on their defender’s ability to attack Vincent and enter the fray. On Wednesday, although both Adetokunmpo and Middleton had excellent games, Holiday was the one who brought down Miami with a hard hit and a soft touch. The Bucks needed him, and he did as he always did.