Everything you need to know about the Bucks’ 106-102 win over the Celtics in quickie form.
Box score
HEADLINES
No true point guards bring problems: Without their best four point guards healthy, the Celtics turned to Kadeem Allen for his career start. The second-round pick performed admirably in 23 minutes (he had played 37 minutes all year), but the Celtics were limited on both ends of the floor by a lack of backcourt experience and also had to go with unconventionally big lineups. Due to that, the Bucks had their way on the offensive end, working their way into the lane regularly Giannis Antetokounmpo (27 points) and Eric Bledsoe (8-of-9 FG) to post 69 points in the paint. Jaylen Brown (team-high 24 points) and Jayson Tatum (20 points) helped to keep C’s within striking distance after a 15-point third quarter, but the Bucks made enough plays in crunch time to hold off the C’s and end their six-game winning streak.
Hanging onto one seed dreams:
The Raptors also fell to the Cavs in Cleveland on Tuesday night, keeping the Celtics only two games back of the No. 1 seed with five games remaining. Boston will need to beat Toronto in a head-to-head matchup on Wednesday night to have any realistic shot of catching the Raptors for the top spot (a win would give them the head-to-head tiebreaker). Even then, the C’s may have to run the table to close the deficit in the standings, a tall task given the team’s injury woes. It’s possible Shane Larkin (flu) will join the team in Toronto Wednesday night, while Terry Rozier (ankle) remains questionable after sitting out Tuesday’s defeat.
TURNING POINT
The Bucks seized control of the game with their defense in the third quarter, closing out the period on a 17-4 run over the final six minutes. Boston missed six straight shots during one stretch as a poor shooting night from Marcus Morris (4-of-16) was a recipe for disaster when he served as a featured scoring option while Tatum and Al Horford got their rest.
TWO UP
Brown:
The shooting guard shook off a dud performance against the Raptors on Saturday night and played another offensive gem. He shot 60 percent from the field (9-of-15 FG), the third time he has topped that number in the past five games. He has scored 19 or more points in all of those performances.
Aron Baynes:
The offensive resurgence of the center has taken shape over the past couple weeks. He hit the double-digit mark in points for the third straight game, finishing with 12 on 6-of-10 shooting. He’s shooting 63 percent from the field over the past five games, and has started to become an efficient scoring weapon for the C’s once again over that stretch, similar to what we saw over the first couple months of the season.
TWO DOWN
Marcus Morris:
The veteran had been on an incredible shooting run over the past nine games (51 percent shooting) but he fell back to earth in a hurry on Tuesday night. He forced up a number of tough jumpers, going 4-of-16 from the field and 1-of-6 from 3-point range, while also coughing up a team-high five turnovers.
Defensive communication:
The Celtics tried going to a 2-3 zone on multiple occasions in both halves, but Brad Stevens failed to stick with it as the Bucks got wide open 3s on multiple possessions. Those easy looks were caused by a lack of awareness that the team was in zone by certain players, which caused some scrambling that Milwaukee took advantage of. Given the number of players playing out of position, this was understandable to a degree, but it’s something the C’s are going to have to clean up as the postseason approaches.
TOP PLAY
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
I’m starting to warm to the idea of playing the Bucks in the opening round:
A few weeks ago, this was the team I’d want to avoid if it came down to them or Miami for the first round. However, while this team may be heavy on talent, it lacks plenty of discipline. They struggled to put away a Celtics team without its four best point guards for the better part of four quarters on a night when two top scorers (Marcus Morris, Jayson Tatum) didn’t play particularly well. Defensively, there are holes to exploit everywhere and these guys aren’t reliable 3-point shooters, outside of a couple guards (Jason Terry, Khris Middleton). The prospect of Giannis is scary, but with the coaching advantage headed Boston’s way, they might be better off against the Bucks that trying to grind it out against a feisty Heat squad.
Rest Rozier’s ankle against the Raptors:
The Celtics are playing with fire from a depth perspective already so rushing the third-year guard back into action after an ugly fall on Saturday night seems like risky business. The truth is the Celtics are going to have to come close to winning out even if they beat Toronto on Wednesday night and that’s a long shot anyway with their closing schedule. They may be better off resting up veterans across the roster rather than chasing that top spot until the final day of the regular season anyway. Go for the win in Toronto, but don’t put Rozier’s ankle at risk. He’s too important to the team now.
