Celtics head into the locker room after a BIG W ☘️ pic.twitter.com/9D6MvU4g0s
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 31, 2023
Bucks get blown out at home
Should Bucks fans worry about how bad the team looked against the NBA Eastern Conference champ Boston Celtics? Of course they should! The Celtics are 2-1 vs the Bucks this season. The lone Bucks win came in overtime. That’s not good. This is not Milwaukee’s conference to lose: Milwaukee still has to prove they can win it!
To simplify this all even further the answer is either “yes or no”. And those leaning “yes” are in the correct camp. Milwaukee had the chance to send a message to Boston, at home, that they were the better team. That simply did not happen. Instead the now 55-22 Milwaukee Bucks got smoked at home by the now 53-24 Boston Celtics in downtown Milwaukee at the Fiserv Forum.
The message instead got sent by Boston to Milwaukee: you aren’t better than us yet!
C's duo WENT OFF tonight ☘️
Jayson: 40 PTS, 8 REB, 8 THREES
Jaylen: 30 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST41-point win vs. Bucks 😳 pic.twitter.com/kb7cQyvKNB
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 31, 2023
Can Milwaukee win the big game?
In the NBA to play in the Christmas Day game showcase, well, that is a pretty high honor. For the franchise to be able to play on Christmas Day was a pretty cool thing. They lost 139-118 (not a cool thing) but it still seemed to signal the start of the second half of the NBA regular season. Now, in a chance for redemption, the Bucks could have taken that home court advantage and really hammered on Boston. Instead it was Boston and star Jason Tatum who really took it to the Bucks.
Tatum has played a lot this season. But if he is able to get into playoff form look out.
In the preview for tonight’s game it was good to wonder why the Celtics had struggled recently? That certainly wasn’t the case tonight.
Related: Celtics vs Bucks Game Preview
“But they were on a back-to-back?”
Teams in the NBA do that all of the time. Milwaukee beat up on Indiana and turned an embarrassing loss a few weeks ago at home to the Pacers as fuel and motivation. Hopefully, that is the outcome the next time these teams meet.
Yes it the playoffs you get travel time. Yes you will never play two days in a row in the NBA playoffs. But because of the success Boston has had against Milwaukee this year, fans should worry!
“But it was five games in seven days?”
Not for Giannis or Jrue. Both Giannis and Jrue sat out against Detroit. In fact, Giannis started well.
Joe Ingles sat against Indiana last night. Brook Lopez only played 19 minutes against Denver.
Middleton was out against Utah.
That argument really doesn’t fly because guys have been able to get in some rest.
Giannis has 20 at the half
The Bucks are down 28 pic.twitter.com/QmMX7vc1DT
— Bucks Lead (@BucksLead) March 31, 2023
Milwaukee needs to Score the ball
If you regularly follow this space you’ve read about our theory on the magic #118 points per game idea. When the Bucks reach that number, good things happen. Tonight they couldn’t even crack 100.
The Bucks are 6th in the NBA in scoring (117 points per game). Twenty games ago the team was barely averaging 114 points a game. Defensively, and with constant consistent rebounding, they have established an identity as a team that turns stops into scores.
Tonight Milwaukee was outrebounded 47-45. Boston had 28 assists. The Bucks only managed 22.
The Celtics are one of the NBA’s original eight teams. The other seven were the New York Knicks, Philadelphia (now Golden State) Warriors, the Providence Steamrollers, the Baltimore Bullets, the Chicago Stags, the Washington Capitols and the St. Louis Bombers. The Celtics have a powerful history. That history has always been problematic for the Bucks.
Milwaukee fans should worry. This game should be an important lesson to the team that if they have championship aspirations, they will run through Boston.
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