NBA Playoffs 2021: The Milwaukee Bucks' drop coverage had no answer for Trae Young's floater

Benyam Kidane

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NBA Playoffs 2021: The Milwaukee Bucks' drop coverage had no answer for Trae Young's floater image

Trae Young's postseason debut continues to go from strength to strength, helping the Atlanta Hawks steal Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

TAKEAWAYS: Young powers Hawks to Game 1 upset

Dropping a playoff career-high 48 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in the 116-113 win, Young was feasting on the Bucks' drop coverage, getting into the lane and torching them with his floater. 

The 22-year-old's offensive game is one of 'pick your poison' given his ability to knock down shots from long-range, get into the paint or find open teammates at the rim. 

With the Bucks sagging off him, Young went to work in the high pick-and-roll, getting to his spot and letting the floater fly, connecting on 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) of them.

"I've seen pretty much every defence," Young said, when asked if he was surprised by the space he was given in Game 1.

"It's really just figuring out what type of defence they're showing that night. So I'm not surprised. For me, it's just trying to make the right read and figure out how they're going to guard. They guard a certain way, and just trying to make plays and attack that way.

"I'm not really surprised, ever."

BY THE NUMBERS: Young joins LeBron in the record Books after Game 1

Throughout the postseason he's connected on 53-of-103 (51.4 percent) of his floaters and led the league in both attempts and makes through the regular season.

Despite being flanked by All-NBA First Team defender Jrue Holiday, time and time again Young was able to keep him on his hip and get his shot off, manipulating the Bucks defence in his favour. 

"It is hard," Holiday said postgame. "Especially when he's making his floaters, it seems like everything is going to hell.

"He had it going early and at that point, I think we tried to make him score, no lobs over the top, but sometimes that difficult because of how crafty he is."

Young scored or assisted on 72 of the Hawks' 116 points, accounting for 62 percent of the team's offence — a Conference Finals record, per Elias Sports. 

Adding 11 assists to his 48 points, he had no shortage of highlight-reel dimes, including a behind-the-back dish to Kevin Huerter for three and the play of the game, finding John Collins with this alley-oop off the backboard to in the third quarter. 


"We gotta do a better job deep on him," Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo added. "He is going to score getting downhill for the lobs and that's his confidence. I think we just got to make it as tough as possible for him, make him play a lot of one on one. But at the end of the day, he had 48 points, he's a great player, like he is going to score with a punch."

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Benyam Kidane

Benyam Kidane Photo

Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor and has been covering the league for The Sporting News since 2016. In his spare time you can find him watching Allen Iverson highlights on repeat.