The Milwaukee Bucks finished off the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night, winning their first-round series 4-1 and setting up a semifinals series with the Celtics. Here’s a quick look at what you need to know.
Series Schedule:
Boston- Sunday, May 1, 1PM (ABC)
Boston - Tuesday, May 3, TBD (TNT)
Milwaukee - Saturday, May 7, TBD (ABC)
Milwaukee - Monday, May 9, TBD (TNT)
Boston - *Wednesday, May 11, TBD (TNT)
Milwaukee - *Friday, May 13, TBD (ESPN)
Boston - *Sunday, May 15, TBD
*if necessary
Season Series: 2-2
There isn’t much to glean from the season series. Boston’s two wins came in November and December. The first loss came on Christmas Day and the second one came at the very end of the season. Boston’s a different team, and so is Milwaukee.
Quick Thoughts
I’ll do a full preview this weekend, but off the top of my head:
- Khris Middleton’s injury could swing the series. He’s not only a dead-eye shooter (especially against Boston), he’s a long defender that can really help on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
UPDATE:
The left MCL injury of Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton is a Grade 2 sprain and he is expected to miss the entire second-round series vs. Celtics, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The recovery of Grade 2 MCL places a potential Conference Finals in jeopardy for him as well.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 28, 2022
This would be a huge blow for Milwaukee. This could add a weak spot to the defense that can be exploited.
- Boston’s offense will look a lot different. They picked on a lot of matchups against the Nets that won’t be there against the Bucks. This will be a ball movement series that matches more of what we saw at Boston’s best. They will need to attack and kick and then attack again. Between Jrue Holiday, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez, there are some big-time defenders to navigate.
- Boston’s defense will look different, too. I have to dig a little deeper, but my guess is that Robert Williams will start out on Wesley Matthews and roam, putting Horford on Lopez. Horford will help on Giannis drives, Rob will come over to block dump offs, and the wings will handle the help if it’s skipped to Matthews to challenge. He’s a 34% shooter during the regular season but he was hot during the Bulls series. We’ll see about this.
- This will be a jump shooting series, I think. Milwaukee’s defense gives up a ton of 3-pointers. One play I’m betting the Celtics use a lot is the Spurs hammer.
To sum it up basically, there's a drive on one side of the floor and on the other, there's a screen against a help defender to free up a shot in the corner. There are a bunch of variations, but I’m betting we see the hammer quite a lot. Milwaukee is about rim protection, and drives will suck the whole team in. The Celtics can run Tatum as the ball handler, screener, or shooter, and there are going to be options galore off this if the Celtics can get penetration.
I’ll look into it some more for the full preview, but those are some quick thoughts.
