Why it isn’t surprising the Boston Celtics dominated Milwaukee
The NBA’s best regular season team was no match for the Boston Celtics in game 1. MVP-hopeful Giannis Antetokounmpo realized first-hand what it’s like to face a mastermind coach and a team built to stop him.
Game one of the Celtics-Bucks Eastern Conference semi-finals went as well as it could have gone for our beloved Shamrocks. The Celtics showed that they can more than just hang with the top-seeded Bucks:
They can also DOMINATE.
While the first half was generally pretty competitive, the Celtics had no interest in letting Milwaukee make it a game. Behind Kyrie Irving’s 26 points, and another 20 points and 11 assists from Al Horford, the Celtics demolished the Bucks in a dominant second half effort.
Oh, and Horford also added THREE blocks against the supposedly unstoppable Greek Freak.
The Celtics were viewed as the favorites heading into this season to come out of the Eastern Conference. After falling to 9-9 in November and with the team allegedly not getting along, it seemed as though they were destined to be an Eastern Conference also-ran.
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Now after a completely unexpected game one thrashing, the Celtics are once again being viewed as a team that could represent the East in the finals…as they should have always been.
People forget two things when it comes to the Celtics and these playoffs. The first: this team was a game shy of reaching the 2018 NBA Finals WITHOUT Irving and Gordon Hayward. Irving missed the playoffs while Hayward missed the year. Having both for the majority of this past season is no small detail for a team that is as good as the sum of its parts.
Secondly: the Celtics have owned the Eastern Conference’s elite (Toronto, Milwaukee and Philadelphia) this season. If Marcus Smart is able to return this series, the Celtics will be at full-strength for the first time since the team acquired Irving and Hayward back in the summer of 2017.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Boston is legit, despite what some “sports journalists” believed. When it comes to the playoffs, the Celtics have been the second most unstoppable force the past few years.
The only obstacle in their way, LeBron James, is wasting his last years with the Lakers now. Boston is the team to beat, and no 60-win regular season should have convinced everyone otherwise.