Milwaukee Bucks Film Room: Heat Exploit Drop Coverage

The Milwaukee Bucks and Brook Lopez came out in Game 1 precisely as the Miami Heat expected: In drop pick-and-roll coverage.

Milwaukee has played this basic defensive scheme for five years under Mike Budenholzer, allowing opponents to prepare for it and exploit the shots they are happy to give up. And that’s what Miami did en route to a Game 1 upset over the top-seeded Bucks.

These two teams are familiar with each other—this is the third time in four years they’ve tipped-off in the postseason. Despite Miami only having one day to prepare against Milwaukee following their play-in victory on Friday night, they knew exactly how the Bucks would defend them. The same way they always do.

This allowed Jimmy Butler to go off for 35 efficient points, Bam Adebayo to get hot in the second half, and Miami to rip off 15 threes on just 25 attempts (60 percent) on their way to a scorching 128.7 offensive rating against the NBA’s fourth-ranked defense.

At the heart of all their offensive success was Milwaukee’s drop coverage and unwillingness to move Lopez away from the hoop.

Before Giannis Antetokounmpo left the game with an injury, Milwaukee tried running out a three-big lineup. Antetokounmpo begins the possession defending Butler, something he had a lot of success with in last year’s playoffs. Caleb Martin sets the first pick to switch Bobby Portis onto Butler, with Adebayo setting the second screen.

Lopez likes to stay as close to the hoop as possible on every possession. When his man sets the second pick, he’s barely outside of the restricted area, hoping to prevent a shot at point-blank range. Only, this allows Butler to hop into a rhythm jumper at 14 feet—a very easy shot for anybody with a semblance of touch.

Miami’s spacing sucks on this play, but that doesn’t prevent Butler from getting an open shot. Despite the crowded atmosphere around the elbow, look how open he is when pulling up.

Miami began exploiting Lopez’s positioning with Butler’s aggressiveness in the first quarter (14 points on 6-for-8 shooting), which evolved to their three-point shooting throughout the rest of the game.

Although they aren’t afraid to bomb away from the outside, they aren’t the most accurate team in the NBA, ranking in the bottom five of three-point percentage. However, it’s a different game when you can get open shots from behind the arc.

As the Heat bring the ball up and run their secondary transition offense, Grayson Allen gets thoroughly screened off by Adebayo, freeing Tyler Herro. As Herro catches the pass, Lopez is a foot below the free throw line, making this the easiest three he’ll get in a playoff game. Unsurprisingly, the 39 percent three-point shooter drains it.

Late in the second quarter, Herro again finds himself with an open three-point attempt. Adebayo receives the pass from Butler and goes into a dribble handoff action with Herro. With Lopez planting two feet inside the paint, the best way to offset that is with a dribble handoff. It puts the defense in a bind, as there’s nobody on the other side of the pick to contest the shot. That’s precisely what happens as they make another lightly contested three.

With Butler cooling off in the second half, Adebayo picked up the scoring slack against the lax defensive scheme.

The Heat big man went 8-for-12 with 17 second-half points and even laughed at Lopez and the Bucks after making another open jumper.

Adebayo isolates Lopez late in the fourth quarter. One-on-one and mano-a-mano. As Adebayo backs up to the three-point line, Lopez retreats five feet below the free throw line. This allows the ball-handler to take one dribble into a lightly contested free throw line jumper. He cashes it and laughs at the Defensive Player of the Year Candidate when Milwaukee is forced to call another timeout.

Milwaukee’s defense has been built around Lopez and this drop scheme for half a decade now. It’s a major reason why they’ve had so much success on that end of the court and have shut down opponents time and time again. Should one game affect that?

Yes and no. I’m not advocating for sweeping changes to the scheme that has literally won the Bucks a title. However, tweaks are needed.

Miami knows the Bucks too well and can prepare and practice the shots that will be available. They’re too comfortable out there. In an attempt to make them less comfortable, Budenholzer has to move his big man away from the hoop—just ever so slightly. He doesn’t have to play at the level of the screen on picks or when defending Adebayo.

He should, however, move up enough to better contest and block those shots Miami wants to take inside the free throw line. By taking just one step closer to the three-point line, Lopez should be able to better contest those shots while still maximizing his ability to protect the paint.

This feels like deja vu for the Bucks. They are far too often victims of the double outlier three-point shooting performance (the one where their opponent makes 60 percent from behind the arc and they make 24 percent). In order to minimize that opportunity and better contest those short mid-range attempts Miami loves, slight alterations are necessary.