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Boston Celtics look ahead to pivotal game three

By Rory Derderian

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MAY 5: Jaylen Brown #7 and Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics celebrate against the Philadelphia 76ers during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Second Round of the 2018 NBA Playoff at Wells Fargo Center on May 5, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jaylen Brown;Jayson Tatum
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MAY 5: Jaylen Brown #7 and Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics celebrate against the Philadelphia 76ers during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Second Round of the 2018 NBA Playoff at Wells Fargo Center on May 5, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jaylen Brown;Jayson Tatum /
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The Milwaukee Bucks salvaged game two at home by beating the Boston Celtics by 21 points. That was huge for their mindset in heading to Boston with the series tied. It’s now a best of five series, with the Celtics holding home court advantage. Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got a series!

Game two didn’t go the way the Boston Celtics hoped and you know what? That’s ok! The Celts did what they set out to do, get a split on the road and head home with the chance to go up 3-1 in front of their home crowd. Last season in this matchup, neither team won a road game and as I mentioned in an earlier blog, whichever team steals one on the road first will win the series. Now the series shifts to Boston as a best of five.

The Garden will be rocking Friday night and I’m sure there will be a John Havlicek tribute video that goes on at some point to get the place fired up. Like most playoff games in Boston, there will be many past and present Boston sports legends in attendance. If the Bruins take care of business tonight in Columbus, I assume they’ll be there as well. No other city supports their other sports team like The City of Champions does.

If the Bucks played their worst in game one, then the Celts got it out of their system on Tuesday night during game two. Kyrie probably played his worst statistical playoff game of his career, shooting 4-18 from the field with nine points. When it looked like a run was going to start, it didn’t. These are things Celts nation can live with.

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Jayson Tatum continued to be a no-show and doing a lot of complaining to the refs, which shows maybe he’s not mentally there. Gordon Hayward shot a pedestrian 1-5 from the field (5 points) and Terry Rozier was 2-10 from the field as well. Boston’s bench had 40 points, but only 18 of them came from rotation players, the rest was during garbage time. That’s big considering Hayward had 13 himself in game one.

Marcus Morris Sr. has continued his solid play in this series, going 6-8 from the field with 17 points after being inserted into the starting line up. Horford added 15 and 8 while Jaylen Brown chipped in with 16 points. Jaylen has been very aggressive and not bowing down to the possible league MVP in Giannis. He’s been going to the hoop strong, which is promising.

The number 18 comes to mind as well. Yes, if the Celtics win the championship they will be raising banner number 18, but that was the number of foul shots Giannis Antetokounmpo attempted. The Celtics only attempted nine more total foul shots than he did. Giannis was aggressive heading to the hole, which is something the Celtics should look to do in game three.

The Celtics also need to do something to contain known Celtics killer, Khris Middleton. He was 7-10 from distance scoring 28 points and essentially thwarted every run the C’s were attempting to go on. It also didn’t matter if he had a hand in his face or was wide open, he was the key to the Bucks winning.

Eric Bledsoe added 21 points but nine of those points came in the second half when the Bucks were already up 18. He began the game with two turnovers and brick, which shows that he’s the type of player that needs a lead to get his points in (in my opinion). The Celts need to keep attacking him and not allow him to get comfortable.

Next. Celtics no match for Milwaukee in game two. dark

Hopefully the referees in this game will actually count the number of steps Giannis takes once he stops his dribble. We all know he’s a long body, but he gets away with a lot of travels. That’s not the reason the Celtics lost game two and I’m looking forward to Horford to continue to play strong defense against him on Friday night.

In Friday’s game, I think a lot of the game will fall on Kyrie’s shoulders, which it should. He’s said over and over that the playoffs are a different beast and that he’s here, so don’t worry. I can also see Brad Stevens drawing up a few plays to try to get Tatum and Hayward going early.

If the Bucks do what they did in game two and basically smother Irving, I think he will look more to be a distributor. Hayward has been playing better and better and this may be his playoff coming out party Friday night at the TD Garden.  It’s now the first team to three, and the Boston Celtics are in the driver’s seat. It’s going to be a fun weekend in Boston!

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