The additional pressure has had three distinct but equally important effects. In fact, Holiday has met Paul beyond the halfcourt line on at least 55 possessions. He has consistently picked up Paul several steps into the backcourt - even on possessions when it wouldn’t seem to be necessary. He used Holiday as Paul’s primary defender in Game 2, and in each of the past four games, Holiday has spent more possessions defending Paul than Booker.īeginning in Game 3, Holiday has also employed a tactic rarely used at the NBA level: full-court pressure. Tucker, Paul torched Milwaukee’s pick-and-roll defense to the tune of 32 points and nine assists, roasting drop coverage and switches alike while generating 1.242 points per possession, according to Second Spectrum.īucks coach Mike Budenholzer then did what he’d previously been loath to do as the Bucks got knocked out of the past two postseasons: He adjusted. But while that was going on, Chris Paul dominated the proceedings from start to finish.
In Game 1, the Bucks put Holiday on Booker, and he hounded the Suns’ 24-year-old All-Star into 27 points on 26 shooting possessions. While Giannis Antetokounmpo was slapping up 40-point double-doubles and blocking alley-oops, and while Khris Middleton was going shot-for-shot with Devin Booker and dropping 24 second-half points, Holiday was busy making a somewhat less noticeable but still extremely important contribution: throwing a wrench in the gears of the Phoenix Suns’ finely tuned offensive orchestra.
It was a play that exemplified exactly why the Bucks traded so very much to land Holiday last offseason, why they lavished him with a monster contract extension back in April and why - despite his occasional bout of Eric Bledsoe-esque shooting and penchant for the periodic puzzling turnover - that splurge has been worth the price.
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