Gianni’s Gala and the suffocating Bucks’ defense! Milwaukee speaks with the Boston Celtics

The Milwaukee Bucks made a small exclamation point in Game 1 of the Conference Semifinals at the Boston Celtics even without Khris Middleton. In the 101: 89 victory, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored poorly from the field, but dominated all other facets of the game. Celtics stars disappoint.

Giannis Antetokounmpo made a triple-double (24 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists) and was the man of the match despite a poor shot rate (9/25 FG, 6/11 FT). The top scorer for the Bucks was Jrue Holiday with 25 points, who also snatched 10 rebounds and convinced on the defensive (3 steals). As a Middleton representative, Bobby Portis also contributed a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds).

The two stars on the Celtics side each performed poorly. Jayson Tatum added 21 points but fell back into old patterns in terms of efficiency (6/18 FG), and Jaylen Brown also experienced a real night of horror (12, 4/13 FG, 7 TO). Robert Williams returned to start five after his injury, Daniel Theis only came off the bench for 4 minutes (2 points, 1 rebound).

The Bucks ‘first possession was a taste of one of the series’ most important matchups: Giannis vs. Horford. The experienced Big Man forced a turnover, a problem Milwaukee had throughout the first quarter. The Bucks lost 7 balls, but the Celtics could only do a little with the resulting fast break situations, and the many open threes did not really want to fall (4/11 3 FG).

After a timeout and a heated argument between Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer and Holiday, the visitors put more pressure on the ball on the defensive, forcing the Celts to make mistakes. Giannis found his way into the zone several times and served his teammates on the edge (4 assists), bringing Milwaukee slightly ahead after the first 12 minutes (27:24).

Giannis Antetokounmpo is against Boston everywhere

The Celts’ star duo was not a factor in the first round (5/18 FG, 6 TO total), especially Tatum dribbled often and had trouble completing the ring. Giannis, on the other hand, had a dominant first half (14 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists), the Greek was directly involved in 34 points for the Bucks and relentlessly left his mark on the game. Milwaukee did most of the damage from long range (10/20 3FG), resulting in a 10-point lead for the visitors at the break.

Tatum lowered his first two attempts from the center at the start of the second half and seemed keen to make the weak first half forget. But the visitors quickly took the wind out of the sails from the Celtics’ initial offensive. Holiday threw hell after the Celtics’ perimeter players in defense, while Brook Lopez behind him patrolled the zone and protected the basket. Although the Bucks cooled down a bit (0/8 3FG), Holiday and Portis kept the visitors afloat in the offensive line. Giannis unnecessarily got his third and fourth errors late in the third quarter and was sent off the bench, but even without the Greek freak, Boston could not take advantage of the minutes.

In the last quarter, the visitors made sure of clear conditions early on and kept their lead at double digits. After a Holiday triple to 92:78, Brad Stevens had seen enough, the TV cameras caught the Celtics president leaving his seat about seven minutes before the end. The Celts did not really gasp, eventually head coach Ime Udoka threw the white towel in the ring two minutes before the final buzzer and emptied his bench.