The Boston Celtics had a dominating performance in game two against the Milwaukee Bucks
The Boston Celtics followed up one of the tightest and most inconsistent games in their first meeting against the Milwaukee Bucks, with their most complete performance in game two. When you take into account the players on the court, and the way they executed on both ends, the Celtics showed the league that they can play at a level that many thought was impossible.
It was not a perfect game for the Celtics, and they know they have a lot of things they need to work on. That being said, the Celtics were functioning well on both ends for the entire game, and it is no surprise that there was nothing the Bucks could do to respond.
The weirdest part is that the Bucks actually had an exceptional game. Giannis Antetokounmpo fell just short of a 30 point triple double, and Khris Middleton continued to score at will, with 25 points on just 14 shots.
As a team, the Bucks finished just under 60 percent overall, and just over 40 percent from three point range. It has been close to impossible to shoot that well against the Celtics this season, but it made absolutely no difference, because they really did everything else to make sure there was nothing the Bucks could do to keep up.
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They were hitting their open shots, and Antetokounmpo was hitting some of the most difficult shots that maybe no one else in the league is capable of. The Celtics responded to that incredible finishing by generating enough turnovers to turn it into a bad offensive game for the Bucks.
The Celtics forced 15 turnovers, and collected nine offensive rebounds, leading to them taking 13 more shots than the Bucks. When you take 31 three pointers in a game, and hit them 41 percent of the time, 13 extra shots are more than enough for the game to get out of hand.
The one noticeable absence for the Celtics was Jayson Tatum, who finished with four points on 2-9 shooting. He contributed with seven rebounds and three assists, but everyone else had to pick up their scoring load a bit.
Jaylen Brown made up for everything and then some. He tallied his first 30 point playoff game, and continues to score on all three levels. Brown is not forcing bad shots, and it able to create in so many different ways. It is abundantly clear that the Bucks have no answer for Brown, and I would expect him to be the team’s leading scorer the rest of the way.
Then you have Terry Rozier, who abused Eric “Drew” Bledsoe all game long. His 23 points and eight assists made him almost as impactful as Brown on offense, and with Al Horford adding 16 points and Marcus Morris adding 18 points, the Celtics put together a truly special performance on offense.
The Celtics were better on offense than they were on defense, but they are not able to do that if their defense is not generating so many turnovers. Brown, Tatum and Rozier give the Celtics one of the most electric transition attacks in the NBA, and they are punishing the Bucks every chance they get.
Next: Marcus Morrs: the unsung hero of Boston Celtics second half
When the Celtics are able to generate offense from their defense like they did last night, while also shooting lights out, there is nothing the Bucks can do to defeat them.