Preview: Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks

This is a matchup between one of the most surprising teams in the NBA this season, the Boston Celtics, and one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA this season, the Milwaukee Bucks. After the off-season signing of Greg Monroe, a lot of people expected Milwaukee to be where Boston is right now, 31-22 and sitting in third place of the Eastern Conference. However, the Bucks have crawled their way to a 20-32 record and are out of the playoff picture. The only two teams in the East worse than the Bucks are the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers.

The Celtics have no major injuries, however, Jae Crowder is still battling a shin injury that has affected his play lately.

O.J. Mayo is expected to be back for the Bucks on Tuesday night, although the Bucks will be without big man John Henson, a huge blow. Henson is a key player off the bench for the Bucks, averaging 6.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He also leads the team with 1.98 blocks per contest.

Trade rumors have swirled around both teams, but for opposite reasons. The Bucks have basically put everyone besides Giannis Antetokounmpo on the trade block, maybe the Celtics will be buyers. It comes as a little surprise that Milwaukee is already giving up on newly acquired Michael Carter-Williams and newly signed Greg Monroe.

Monroe leads the team with 9.6 rebounds per game and contributes 16.5 points per game, second best on the team. He is one of the better scorers down low in the league and can step out and hit a mid-range jumper as well. However, his poor defense down low has cost the Bucks and so far he hasn’t been the star player Milwaukee was hoping for.

The matchup of the game is between Giannis Antetokounmpo and whoever guards him. Antetokounmpo is a nightmare to coach against because he has the abilities of a guard but is 6’11”. Having a bigger Amir Johnson guard him would be ideal, except it would give Antetokounmpo a huge advantage off the dribble. The best bet for Boston is to have Jae Crowder guard him since he’s Boston’s best wing defender and has better size than Avery Bradley.

Brad Stevens is a great coach and has dealt with Antetokounmpo very well in the past. In career games against the Celtics, Antetokounmpo has averaged 8.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 24.9 minutes. He also only shot 47.4 percent from the field, however did shoot 40 percent from behind the arc.

Having Bradley stay on Khris Middleton, Milwaukee’s leading scorer, is what Stevens will most likely opt towards. Although, Middleton at 6’8″ could cause a lot of problems for Boston as well. Milwaukee has very good size, they just haven’t been able to use it correctly this season.

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The X-Factor of the game is Isaiah Thomas. He is fresh off winning Player of the Week, even though he only shot 37.5 percent from the field. He did average 20.3 points, 7.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game though. He will have his hands full with Michael Carter-Williams, well kind of. Williams, like most of Milwaukee’s team, has great size for his position.

Carter-Williams shoots a miserable 45.1 percent from the field and only 30.2 percent from three. He is a pass-first guard but can be turnover prone at times. This is a favorable matchup, despite the size, for Thomas because he can use his quickness to clog the passing lanes while not having to worry too much about Carter-Williams’ scoring ability.

The Milwaukee Bucks have talent on their team but haven’t been able to put it together this season. Jason Kidd has to be on some kind of hot seat after this disastrous season. There’s a reason the Bucks are looking to have a fire sale of their team.

Next: The Ultimate Guide to the Boston Celtics Trade Deadline

Boston is clearly the better team and should continue their hot play in cold Milwaukee. The Celtics will have one more game before All-Star break, against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.

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