Everything you need to know about the Bucks' win over the Celtics with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
HEADLINES
Late rally falls short: The Celtics showed some fight on Thursday night but it came too little too late against the NBA’s best team. After allowing the most first-half points by the franchise in 15 years and trailing by as many as 27 in the first half, the Celtics had a chance to cut the Bucks lead to one point in the final minute of the game. An airballed Marcus Smart 3 sealed the win for the Bucks, however, allowing the hosts to hold on for a 128-123 victory.
The shorthanded Celtics (no Jaylen Brown due to sprained thumb) got the best game of Kemba Walker’s career in a Celtics uniform as the All-Star went for a game-high 40 points and 11 rebounds in 38 minutes. Smart added 24 points while filling in for Brown in the starting five but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Bucks firepower as Milwaukee shot 51.6 percent from 3-point range and scored 76 points in the first half to build a lead that the C’s could not overcome. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 32 points and 17 rebounds while Khris Middleton added 23 points for the Bucks who improved to 37-6 on the year.
C's slide continues: Boston has now lost two straight games overall and five of their last seven overall. Despite a far better performance in the second half of this one, they played much of the first half looking like a team that was stuck in the mud on both ends of the floor (outside of Walker). The Bucks shot 80 percent from 3-point range in the first half on a host of uncontested looks and the C's got a subpar effort from Jayson Tatum (17 points on 8-of-20 shooting) and a brutal performance from Gordon Hayward (1-of-10 from the field). Despite playing the easiest schedule in the NBA so far, they find themselves back in the No. 3 seed in the East and just two games ahead of the sixth-seeded Sixers. Without some improved play, this team will find itself out of position for homecourt advantage in the East come playoff time.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics trimmed a 27-point deficit down to six midway through the third quarter but the hosts had a potent counterpunch to put the C’s make on their heels, closing the frame with a 19-3 outburst, most of it coming with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the bench to push the lead back up to 20. That deficit was too much to overcome for the Celtics in the fourth quarter.
TWO UP
Kemba Walker: The point guard erupted after a scoreless first quarter to prevent a blowout against a red-hot Bucks offense. Walker scored all 24 of his first-half points in the final 10 minutes of the second quarter, going 9-of-14 from the field while adding a team-high six rebounds in the opening 24 minutes on his way to 40 points and 11 rebounds on the night.
Marcus Smart: The guard went perfect from the charity stripe in the first half, knocking down all seven of his attempts from the free-throw line. Despite his airball in the final minute, he was 5-of-10 from 3-point range to help carry the offense on a night Hayward didn’t have much going.
TWO DOWN
Celtics perimeter defense: The Bucks were nearly unstoppable from 3-point range in the first half, going 12-of-15 from beyond the arc to score 78 points against the C’s fourth-ranked defense in the NBA. It was the most points allowed in a first half by Boston since 2005. They fell back to earth a bit in the second half but still shot 51 percent from the night from deep.
Gordon Hayward: An extremely flat performance by the swingman on the second half of the back-to-back as he missed his first eight shots (all coming from 3-point range) before knocking down a 3 to end the third quarter.
INJURY REPORT
Jaylen Brown did not play after suffering a sprained right thumb against the Pistons on Wednesday night. He is expected to get some imaging on the injury on Friday when the team arrives back in Boston.
TOP PLAY
Kemba with the no l?k layup pic.twitter.com/NZVtyyfpcd
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 17, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Hack-a-Giannis could loom large in the postseason: The Greek Freak was his dominant self in this one, although Semi Ojeleye held his ground fairly well against him in the second half. While 32 points for Antetokoumpo is another night at the office, his free throw shooting (10-of-20) was a trouble spot for the MVP in this contest. Antetokounmpo is a 72 percent career free-throw shooter but he’s knocking down a career-worst 61 percent at the free-throw line this season. Given how much firepower this Bucks offense has across the perimeter, hack-a-Giannis is a tactic that will probably get some use in the postseason to help disrupt the Bucks rhythm on the offensive end, particularly if Antetokounmpo doesn’t show some second-half improvement in this area. The C’s didn’t go with the tactic tonight but they were smart about giving harder fouls on most occasions to prevent easy and-1s, particularly in the second half. With his 3-point shooting improving (33 percent), this could be the biggest weak point for Giannis on the offensive end of the floor.
Enes Kanter isn’t going to be able to play much against the Bucks in a playoff series: The Celtics got away with Kanter at times in the first half when he matched up against Robin Lopez but his inability to contest guards on the perimeter just makes him a monster liability in this matchup. George Hill feasted on him after switches with pull up 3s and that's a weakness the Bucks’ coaching staff will attack time and time again in the postseason whenever Kanter is on the floor. That doesn’t mean the big man won’t be useful in other matchups across the East but this is a hypothetical series where Rob Williams, Daniel Theis and Grant Williams will get the lion’s share of the minutes at center to give the C’s a chance on the defensive end.