The Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks will face off in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight, and both come off thrilling Game 7 finishes. Many people may think this will all revolve around Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Trae Young. But this will turn out not to be true; the supporting cast on each team will need to stand up, because neither team has enough depth.

The stars will need help.

This won’t surprise Atlanta fans. In Game 7 of the highly anticipated series between the Hawks and the 76ers, Young showed up late and didn’t have much of an impact until the 4th quarter. So it wasn’t him who kept them in that game; it was Kevin Huerter. He had 27 points and went 10-18 from the field. Another member of the Hawks that will need to stand up is Bojan Bogdonavic. Against the Bucks this year, he has averaged 30 points a game and has been their X factor.

What about the Bucks? Milwaukee will not need a surprising offensive matchup, but rather an ace on perimeter defense. Pat Connaughton was this guy for them in Game 7, showing off on defense with a +10 versus debatably the best offensive team of the decade. Off the bench, Connaughton brings incredible defense inside the paint as well; he can essentially guard anyone on the court and play anywhere in a zone. The best way for the Bucks to contain the Hawks shooters is to play a zone, because the Bucks have power — not speed or agility. The Bucks will need to use their length to their advantage.

I see this series going six games. Game 1 will be more of an adjustment matchup for Nate McMillan, as he will need a grasp of how this Bucks team operates with Giannis being on the floor nearly the entire game. But after Game 1, I can see McMillan trying to operate Trae Young differently every game, as he is so crafty and versatile on offense. If McMillan can manage to do this, I can see the Bucks getting confused as the matchup will most likely be PJ Tucker vs Trae Young, which is a mismatch inside and when Young moves downhill. Young can take advantage of this matchup beyond the arc, which will hurt the Bucks the most, as they almost only work inside the paint.

The Hawks will win because of how versatile they are, as the Bucks are a team that mainly likes to clamp the paint. The Hawks can use this to their advantage with speed and the ability to shoot. Also, McMillan is a very open-minded coach and can really play any style of defense if it can stop Giannis — who is a very downhill paint pounding scorer and gets nearly 70% of his points in the paint. So the coaching, versatility, speed, agility, and shooting of the Atlanta Hawks are the reason why they will win this series.