The Bucks have slowed their roll a bit in recent weeks. They’re now 16-8, essentially even with the Philadelphia Sixers for 2^nd place in the East behind the beastly Raptors. However, that means they’ve just been 9-8 since their phenomenal 7-0 start to the season.

Yesterday, the Bucks traded for George Hill, sending Matthew Dellevadova, John Henson, and draft picks to the Cavaliers. While the main purpose of the move was to clear cap space for next summer, the Bucks making a move to improve their team isn’t a surprise. Even though they still have the best net rating in the NBA at 9.2, and boast the second-best offense and sixth-best defense in the NBA, a couple weaknesses have been demonstrated on both ends of the court. The Warriors attacked these flaws beautifully in their 105-95 win over the Bucks last night.

On defense, the Warriors built a wall in the paint, barring Giannis Antetokounmpo from entering. They didn’t let him build a head of steam going to the hoop, especially in the halfcourt. At the same time, they didn’t bother closely guarding him on the perimeter, encouraging him to shoot. While Giannis has been magnificent this season, his outside shot has singularly failed to develop. He’s barely taking more threes than last season (2.4 per game) and is hitting them at a measly 10.7 percent. Teams with long, quick defenders who can contest Giannis at the rim and slide with him on his drives can shut him down as long as his shot remains broken.

The Warriors’ defense forced Giannis into more of a playmaking role: he took only 13 shots, well below his season average of 17.6. And when Giannis can’t take over as a scorer, the Bucks turn into a three-point shooting team. The problem is that while they take a lot of threes (over 44% of their shots), only Khris Middleton is both a high-volume and high-percentage shooter from deep.

Middleton and Eric Bledsoe are really the only two Bucks who take off the dribble threes, leaving the rest as catch-and-shoot guys. The Warriors’ activity and length meant they could contest hard on the Bucks’ shooters, with the result being a 7-39 night from deep. Some of that was obviously luck – the Bucks missed plenty of open threes – but relying on threes alone is a dangerous strategy, especially against strong defenses that switch to cut off open looks.

On the other hand, the Bucks’ defense, while good, allows opponents to take a ton of threes. Opposing teams take 38.8 percent of their shots from three against the Bucks, tied with the Kings for highest in the NBA. Worse, teams are shooting well against the Bucks, making 35.2 percent of their threes. That’s not a recipe for a great defense in the modern NBA, especially against teams with multiple threats from deep.

The Warriors are certainly a team with a substantial amount of firepower, and they made the Bucks pay from three. The Dubs have actually made headlines this season for not taking many threes, but that was not a problem last night. They attempted 46, the most they’ve shot in any game this season, and nailed 19 of them for a sterling 41.3 percent. While the final score was close, the Warriors seemed in control for most of the game, and it’s because they dominated the outside shooting on both sides.

Now, most teams are not the Warriors. They have a handful of long, skillful defenders who can defend Giannis and Middleton better than most, and their defensive strategy therefore won’t be implementable by many other teams. They also have the two best three-point shooters of all time in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, so giving them a lot of looks from three is not a good idea. Still, until the Bucks figure out how to defend the three-ball better, and discover a way to score outside of Giannis layups and catch-and-shoot threes, they will remain vulnerable.