The Boston Celtics had home court advantage snatched away from them Friday night after losing to the Milwaukee Bucks 123-116. The Celtics had a one-point advantage heading into the locker room at halftime, but the Bucks took over in the second half, including a 40-point third quarter. Boston could not come back in the fourth quarter and now trails 2-1 in the series. Here are a few things that went wrong for the Celtics.
Lack of bench production:
The Celtics are known for having a deep roster, but you wouldn’t know that by watching Game 3.
Milwaukee’s bench outscored Boston’s bench 42-16. Gordon Hayward and Semi Ojeleye were the only players from the Celtics’ bench to find the bottom of the net. This lack of production put way too much pressure on the starting five.
All of Boston’s starters scored over 15 points, which is usually a recipe for success, but the bench was simply unable to back up the performance of the starters.
If the Celtics matched the Bucks in bench scoring, the Celtics would have won the game in blowout fashion.
Unable to slow down the Greek Freak:
Of course, you cannot expect the Celtics to stop Giannis Antetokounmpo, but he flat out dominated last night. The Greek Freak scored a game-high 32 points with no 3-point field goals made. Antetokounmpo was virtually unstoppable in transition and drew many fouls from the Celtics. He scored 16 of his 32 points on free throws alone.
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In a post-game interview, Kyrie Irving disagreed with many of the fouls the referees called that put Antetokounmpo on the line. When Antetokounmpo wasn’t scoring he was rebounding and facilitating. He led the game in both rebounds and assists with 13 and 8 respectively.
When Antetokounmpo drives to the rim, he draws many defenders and he can usually find the open man. There were many times where the Celtics double-teamed Antetokounmpo has he drove to the basket and he was able to kick to one of the many strong shooters on Milwaukee. The Greek Freak was playing bully ball against many of the Celtics in Game 3.
The problem for Boston is that they don’t have any player that matches up well with Antetokounmpo. He is faster than Al Horford and he is much stronger than Jayson Tatum. Horford was able to slow down Antetokounmpo in Game 1 and is probably the best bet to defend him moving forward.
However, it must be a collective effort by the Celtics to stop Antetokounmpo. When Antetokounmpo is slowed down, the Bucks usually struggle and that is how the Celtics won Game 1. The Celtics also shouldn’t key on the Greek Freak too much because the Bucks are loaded with talented players such as Kris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, Brook Lopez and others.
It is hard to imagine Boston’s bench playing as poorly as it did Game 3. Overall, the Celtics needed a much better effort on the defensive end last night.
Marcus Smart, who is out with an oblique injury, could be the defensive spark Boston is missing in this series. Smart is an aggressive defender who gets under the other team’s skin.
For now, the Celtics must work with what they have. Monday’s Game 4 in the TD Garden is virtually a must-win for the Celtics or else they will head back to Milwaukee down 3-1.