4 things to watch for in Bucks-Celtics showdown

The Celtics failed their first test of the season against an Eastern Conference contender (Toronto) during the first week of the regular season. On Thursday night, they get another crack at arguably their toughest competition in the East in the Milwaukee Bucks, who have stormed out to a 7-0 start to the year under the guidance of new head coach Mike Budenholtzer. Let's take a look at the different dynamics in play for the final undefeated team in the NBA ahead of a nationally televised showdown at the TD Garden.

1. Bucks finally have 3-point shooters to put around Giannis: This was the main downfall of the Bucks last postseason, as Milwaukee could not spread the floor enough around Giannis Antetokounmpo to take down the C's away from the friendly confines of the Bradley Center. That changed this offseason though as a new head coach in Budenholtzer was brought in with a heavy emphasis on a 3-ball and the proper personnel was put into place with Brook Lopez and Ersan Ilyasova, two of the best pure shooters for bigs in the league.

The end result over the first month of the regular season has been one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the league as far as percentage (5th) and attempts per game (6th). Teams have to pick their poison now between throwing extra help in the paint and leaving stretch bigs wide open on the perimeter. The C's help defense will need to be on point to help defend against this explosive attack with 10 players on the Bucks roster shooting 34 percent or better from downtown. The only major piece not knocking them down at this point? Antetokounmpo, who is shooting a putrid 1-of-16 from deep.

2. Khris Middleton hasn't slowed down from last postseason, but the C's are better positioned to slow him down now: The C's had no answer for the swingman last May as he constantly took advantage of switches in the post to produce easy looks from both the perimeter and the interior. That trend has carried over this year with an even better supporting cast around him as Middleton is shooting a sensational 54 percent from 3-point range as Budenholtzer keeps putting him in better spots to succeed.

"One of the interesting things about last year," Brad Stevens said. "I thought he was doing a lot of cool stuff in Atlanta and he stuck with it in a lot of ways and it fits this group so well where he was used to playing with a post running down the floor, now he plays five-out running down the floor. Again, he started it last year and then it just fits. It’s a seamless fit with this group, with Giannis’ ability to drive it, with Bledsoe’s ability to drive it and shoot it, Brogdon. They can all put it on the floor, they can all shoot and then Middleton and Lopez are just killing people from behind the line."

The Celtics have even more switchability in their starting five now and that should come in handy against Middleton. He will be able to target Kyrie Irving in switches but Brown/Hayward/Tatum/Horford can all handle him in stretches 1-on-1.

3. How do the Celtics defend Giannis with their new-look starting five? After inserting Semi Ojeleye into the starting five last year on their way to a 4-3 series win in the first round, Brad Stevens will have an interesting question about who gets primary Antetokounmpo defensive duty with Lopez playing alongside him. Horford normally got the call last year but he's going to have to battle with Lopez in the post, otherwise the C's would be very vulnerable to postups from the true center in the paint. One of Tatum/Brown/Hayward will have to step up with initial Antetokounmpo duty then, although Brown is questionable with a foot injury. If he can't go, Stevens could opt to go big with Aron Baynes at center for Lopez duty or insert Ojeleye or Morris into the starting five to deal with Antetokounmpo. Stevens has a lot of flexibility here with his lineup combinations but he's going to have to be careful with his lineup combos. The Bucks have more firepower this year and that means less help readily available to corral the MVP candidate.

"When you have 24 feet to guard and you have to be out there in their airspace at 24 feet it makes it easier to drive the ball," Stevens noted. "It’s easy to say you don’t want to give up layups and threes but that’s hard to do, especially with a team that’s this good offensively. It’ll be a great challenge."

4. Can the Celtics punish the Bucks for their turnover woes on both ends? This is the one weakness so far for Milwaukee on both ends of the floor. Their turnover rate is the fourth worst in the league, largely thanks to some horrific decision making by Antetokounmpo (five turnovers per game) early on. The Bucks also have scaled back their pressure defense from the Jason Kidd days and are forcing turnovers on fewer than 10 percent of defensive possessions, the second-lowest mark in the league. For all the talent the Bucks added, they still have plenty of players with limited mobility in Lopez, Ilyasova and John Henson. The C's should be able to punish these guys with perimeter shooters everywhere, so if the hosts can also stay smart with the ball and force Antetokounmpo into some bad decisions, they should be able to hand Milwaukee their first loss of the year tonight.