Everything you need to know about the Celtics' 119-112 loss to the Bucks with BSJ insight and analysis:
HEADLINES
Celtics fight back but falter late after some questionable officiating: The Celtics starters took Tuesday’s scrimmage off and it looked early on against the Bucks that they were still resting — after letting the Bucks jump out to a 17-2 lead out of the gate. However, some steady play by the bench unit highlighted by Marcus Smart (team-high 23 points) helped the C’s claw their way back from a 15-point deficit in what ended up being a see-saw affair for most of the fourth quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo (36 points, 15 rebounds) managed to take control late however, leading the Bucks on a game-closing 12-5 run to secure the victory after having his sixth foul reversed on a review with just under two minutes remaining. The reverse from a charge to a blocking call on Smart was probably the right call by the letter of the law, but the officials had clearly missed a sixth foul on Antetokounmpo on a hostile review just moments earlier. Jaylen Brown added 22 points for the C’s in the loss, while Gordon Hayward had a balanced box score line (17 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) but those efforts weren’t enough to make up for a subpar night from the C’s top scorer.
Jayson Tatum has a nightmare re-opener: The third-year forward has struggled with his shot so far in Orlando during scrimmages and a pesky Bucks defense kept Tatum in a funk all night. He went 2-of-18 from the field, which actually should have been 1-of-17 since one of his buckets was actually a tip-in by the Bucks that was credited to him in the first quarter. Tatum put up a number of ill-advised shots in traffic, missed all of his 3s and only got to the free throw line twice on the night as he labored through arguably his worst game as a pro. The fact the C’s were still in this game late despite those struggles was a bit of a surprise.
Encouraging signs from Kemba: The All-Star’s night came to an end early in the third quarter after he hit his 20-minute limit for the evening, but the returns were promising for the six-footer. Walker finished with 16 points and two assists over his 19 minutes, shooting above 50 percent from the field (5-of-9) in a game for the first time since February. Walker was put on a normal minutes rotation, so he did not appear at all in the fourth quarter despite lobbying the coaching staff in a tight game. Walker’s speed and athleticism were on full display in the performance however, as he showed few signs that he was impacted by a sore knee that has bothered him for months.
TURNING POINT
Antetokounmpo was called for his sixth foul with 1:28 left in the fourth quarter after Smart appeared to get in position to absorb contact from him in the paint. After a video review, the call was overturned to a blocking foul on Smart, which not only allowed Giannis to stay in the game, but awarded him the layup made on the same play. The basket broke open a 107-107 tie and jump-started a 12-5 run by the Bucks to close the game which featured nine straight points from Antetokounmpo.
TWO UP
Marcus Smart: The sixth man for Boston played one of his best games of the season, giving the Celtics a huge boost on both ends of the floor over his 32 minutes. He was incredibly efficient from both the field (7-of-11 FG) and 3-point range (3-of-6) while making his way to the free throw line eight times. That type of offensive upside, combined with his usual defensive tenacity enabled the Celtics to stay in the game despite Tatum’s shooting woes.
Brad Wanamaker: The 30-year-old benefitted from Walker’s minutes limit by getting the lion’s share of the extra playing time up for grabs. He made the best of that opportunity, posting 14 points over 26 minutes, two points short of his season-high. Wanamaker didn’t connect from distance (0-of-2) but he finished well inside the arc (5-of-7) while also chipping in with six boards.
TWO DOWN
Jayson Tatum: He’s reverted a little bit to his early-season woes over the past couple of weeks. Understandable after a long layoff, but he needs to start reading defenses better and avoid forcing tough shots.
3-point shooting: The Celtics got all kinds of open looks from the perimeter that the Bucks were happy to concede but didn’t take advantage, shooting just 29.7 percent from deep (11-of-37). Tatum and Hayward (0-of-7 combined from 3) were the biggest offenders on this front.
TOP PLAY
B-E-A-UTIFUL ? pic.twitter.com/buyFQbDhS0
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 1, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Review protocol screwed the Celtics in this one: By the letter of the law, the NBA officials got this one right but it shouldn’t make the Celtics feel any better about how this played out. On top of the reversed charge call in the final two minutes on Antetokounmpo, the Bucks also benefitted from officials swallowing their whistles when Giannis made hard contact with Daniel Theis just a couple minutes earlier in the fourth. The officials reviewed the play after Theis looked to be in pain, but determined after checking the video that it wasn’t a ‘hostile’ act. That didn’t change the fact that it was a foul on Antetokonmpo — but since it wasn’t a flagrant, the refs couldn’t reverse the no-call. Justice served would have been taken that missed play into consideration when Antetokounmpo had his charge reversed (a borderline call but probably the right one since Smart was sliding into position when Giannis was in the air). Alas, the Bucks got the best of both worlds. That’s what happens when you have the MVP on your roster. This game shouldn’t mean much in the big picture for the C’s, but the back-to-back sequences weren’t a great look for the NBA on the night where fouls were called everywhere.
The Bucks are going to require close to perfect basketball to beat: On the one hand, it’s easy to feel encouraged if you are the Celtics by hanging tough with the Bucks on a night when Tatum couldn’t buy a bucket. On the other hand, the Bucks were without their starting point guard in Eric Bledsoe and two key bench contributors in Pat Connaughton and Marvin Williams. Bledsoe may actually be a net minus for this group in the postseason but their depth is staggering across the entire roster and the C’s can’t afford many lulls over 48 minutes against them. The Celtics have the right personnel to spread the Bucks out, but everyone on the roster needs to be more disciplined about keeping the ball moving and attacking the paint on several occasions instead of settling for jumpers. Doing that and staying disciplined on Giannis the entire night is a tough challenge that leads to foul trouble and costly mistakes. The C’s played well on Friday in stints but they need to remember they didn’t see the best version of the Bucks either in this bubble opener.