Bucks are one win away from the NBA Finals

It was early in Game 5 on Thursday night, 2 minutes and 5 seconds into the game, to be exact, and Jrue Holiday, open from 3, caught a lateral pass from P.J. Tucker.

With Giannis Antetokounmpo injured and sitting on the end of the bench in a cream long-sleeve shirt and gray sweatpants, the Bucks entered the game like wild beasts, the energy seeping inside Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

Holiday’s three-pointer was good, giving the Milwaukee Bucks a 10-2 lead and forcing an Atlanta Hawks timeout. It was the opposite of Tuesday’s Game 4 in Atlanta, where without Trae Young, the Hawks took an early 10-2 lead, forcing a Bucks timeout. And as the Hawks did then, riding the wave of an inspired squad determined to answer the call of duty to bear the burden of an absent star, the Bucks never relented.

Building the Bucks’ roster has been a work in progress since the team realized what it had in Antetokounmpo. Refining role players and uncovering hidden gems to assemble a complementary group, the Bucks have made small tweaks to find the right fits. In a game where that group had to find its own offense without the two-time MVP, the supporting cast complemented Antetokounmpo by filling his void to win Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals 123-112 and take a 3-2 series lead.

Let’s start with Brook Lopez, who played perhaps the game of his life with a playoff career-high 33 points on 14-of-18 shooting, dominating the interior with his massive size and brute strength.

“We have to find a way to give ourselves a chance, and Brook getting to the paint, he’s really done that his whole career,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Credit to him.”

Lopez was a major beneficiary of that discovery process in 2018 when he signed with the Bucks via their bi-annual exception, just $3.4 million per season.

Once upon a time, the No. 10 overall pick of the then-New Jersey Nets spent his first nine seasons as a top option, with offenses organized around his skill set and rosters built to suit him. He is the Nets’ all-time leading scorer, totaling seasons that consistently hovered around 20 points per game.

In his first eight seasons with the Nets, he scored a total of 31 three-pointers. In his ninth season, he took 387, then was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of the move that sent D’Angelo Russell to Brooklyn. He was on a lottery-bound Lakers team that was largely a dysfunctional mess and needed a reboot.

In his first season with the Bucks, he hit nearly 200 three-pointers, becoming a space-creating piece to the puzzle they were trying to solve for Antetokounmpo. It resulted in a new $52 million contract from Milwaukee in 2019, and now as a 5 three-point sharpshooter protecting the rim, Lopez’s career has had a renaissance.

“I’m just trying to go out there and help my team as much as possible. Whether it’s playing that new, modern 3-point game, stretching space or in the paint inside,” Lopez said. “The good thing about today is that we were really all just basketball players, both offensively and defensively. We were playing with each other, making plays, making extra passes. It was a lot of fun tonight.”

Then there’s Holiday, the two-way point guard for whom the Bucks dealt part of their long-term future to the New Orleans Pelicans. In one way, he already fulfilled his value as possibly the precursor to persuading Antetokounmpo to sign a five-year contract to stay with the Bucks.

The Bucks were looking for Holiday to be more reliable and keep them in rhythm offensively in dry spells. He has been inconsistent, but as the Bucks move forward, his role as a defender and scorer is vital. They gave up three first-rounders and two draft picks to get him, but 25 points and 13 assists in 42 minutes in Game 5 were worth at least a couple.

“I just knew I had to be aggressive. Whatever that means, Giannis being out or not, I knew I had to be aggressive,” Holiday said. “I feel like the best way I’m going to help my team is by getting in the paint, penetrating and dishing out three-pointers and open looks … Brook assists for monster dunks.”