Everything you need to know about the Celtics beating the Bucks 112-90 with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
HEADLINES
Celtics steal homecourt with a commanding win by limiting Greek Freak: The Celtics may be the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference but they looked nothing like the underdogs on Sunday afternoon. Kyrie Irving scored 26 points and dished out 11 assists while Al Horford delivered a huge double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds) to lead the visitors to a commanding win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. After blowing a 15-point first half lead, the Celtics took control yet again in the third quarter with a 32-9 run, frustrating Giannis Antetokounmpo (22 points on 7-of-21 FG) on their way to handing Milwaukee their worst home loss of the year.
Offense shines with Marcus Morris at power forward: Brad Stevens elected to prioritize offense over defense by slotting Morris back into the starting five over Aron Baynes. The move paid major dividends, stretching the Bucks defense thin with its spacing, opening the door for 56 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent shooting from 3, giving the C’s their best offensive performance of the postseason. Jaylen Brown also chipped in with 19 points on 8-of-14 FG, while Gordon Hayward provided a major boost off the bench by making his first four shots on the way to 13 points.
TURNING POINT
The Bucks looked to be in a heap of trouble in the first half after falling down by 15 midway through the first quarter but they used some 3-point shooting and second-chance points to turn things around with a 15-0 run, giving them the momentum heading into halftime. However, Boston turned the tide out of halftime, pushing the lead back up to 21 again with a commanding 32-9 run that led to the win.
FOUR UP
Irving: The point guard tied his playoff career-high of 11 assists and scored a game-high 26 points. It was the fifth double-double of Irving's playoff career, including his second this postseason in just five games.
Horford: The big man delivered his first 20-10 line of the postseason, posting a phenomenal all-around line with 20 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three assists in just 32 minutes. Two of those three blocks came against Antetokounmpo as the Horford helped contain him to just 4-of-16 shooting from inside the arc.
Hayward: The Bucks hadn’t seen Hayward in 2019 after he sat out their latest matchup in February and he made them pay for their defensive style. The swingman made his first four shots of the game, mostly in the paint and midrange as he feasted on the Bucks bigs in the pick-and-roll and off handoffs as they laid back.
Celtics first-quarter defense: This is locked in as we’ve seen this group all season, bringing the Bucks top-5 offense to, essentially, a halt. Antetokounmpo scored just one point in the frame with no field goals as the Bucks managed just 5-of-19 shooting from the field. The majority of the Bucks shots were contested and they managed just four points in the paint, and three on the fast break, terrific numbers for Boston for one of the league’s best teams in both those areas.
TWO DOWN
Defending the Bucks stretch bigs in the first half: After a strong defensive start by Boston, Mike Budenholzer elected to mix things up in the second quarter by playing a front line of Ilyasova/Mirotic for extended minutes. The change of personnel worked as Mirotic knocked down three 3s, taking advantage of some weak closeouts by the C’s to erase a 15-point halftime deficit. The Bucks went 8-of-20 in the first half alone, taking half of their attempts from downtown.
Getting to the free throw line: The Celtics are one of the worst teams in the NBA in this department, but they went the first 21 minutes of the game without an attempt at the charity stripe before finishing the first half with four. Milwaukee is terrific at avoiding fouling but the Celtics are not going to be able to keep pace offensively in this series unless they manufacture more than a few free throws per half.
TOP PLAY
S P L A S H pic.twitter.com/VPckLp5zv5
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 28, 2019
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Al Horford remains the most underrated big in the league: For all of the hype that Antetokounmpo got heading into this series, much of the NBA world seemingly forgot how much a rested Horford gives the Greek Freak problems. Without a reliable 3-point shot to depend on (despite knocking down three on Sunday), Horford made Antetokounmpo’s life miserable in the paint, forcing him to miss 12 of his first 16 shots inside the arc, an area where he shoots over 60 percent on the season. Offensively, the Bucks dared Horford to beat them with his jumper and after a low start, he rebounded with his third double-double in the last five games, handily outplaying Brook Lopez in the middle. Few bigs in the NBA can do what Horford can on both ends of the floor and the Bucks certainly don’t have anyone who can contain him adequately in the middle, making the C’s suddenly look like the favorite in this series.
Marcus Morris as a willing passer makes the Celtics extremely dangerous: As predicted here at BSJ, Stevens went back to Morris as his starting power forward in place of Aron Baynes to help stretch the floor against the Bucks defense. Morris only attempted six shots on the night but he provided a valuable weapon all game long, beating the Bucks slower footed bigs with his closeouts and finding the open man in the paint. He was only credited with one assist on the afternoon but he constantly found the open man in the paint or made the extra pass on the perimeter, which helped the Celtics offense breakout against the NBA’s best regular season defense. If Morris keeps this type of mentality all series long, it’s going to be tough for the Bucks to corral the firepower within this Celtics offense.
