POST GAME MIL. BUCKS - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Boston Finally Solves Bucks With 96-89 Win In Milwaukee

NESN by Joshua Schrock on Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 10:31PM

A week ago, the Boston Celtics failed to put away the Milwaukee Bucks in a 108-100 loss in their home opener at TD Garden. Thursday, however, they didn’t have the same problem. Boston held a three-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, and let their two superstars put the Bucks to bed in a 96-89 win. Al Horford (27 points, nine rebounds) and Kyrie Irving (24 points) used a stellar two-man game to hold off the Bucks at the BMO Bradley Center. Gianna Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 28 points, but it wasn’t enough to put away the Celtics who had four player score in double figures. The Celtics improved to 3-2, while the Bucks dropped to 3-2. Here’s how it all went down.

STARTING FIVE PG: Kyrie Irving SG: Jaylen Brown SF: Jayson Tatum PF. Al Horford C: Daniel Theis

TURNOVERS AND FOULS Neither team played particularly well in the first quarter, as the Celtics turned the ball over eight times in the quarter, while the Bucks shot 35 percent from the floor. The stanza included a technical foul on Bucks guard DeAndre Liggins and a flagrant foul on Tony Snell, both of which helped the C’s grab a 28-23 lead after one. The two teams combined for 11 fouls in the period, as the officials didn’t take the whistles out of their mouths.

TIGHT Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 16 points at the half, but it wasn’t enough for the Celtics to take the lead at halftime. While Boston led for much of the half, but a late turnover led to a Khris Middleton dunk and gave the Bucks a 44-43 lead at the break. The C’s turned the ball over 10 times and shot an abysmal 35.9 percent from the field. Boston also was brutal from downtown, as they hit on just 18.8 percent of their 3-point attempts in the half. Irving and Horford combined to go 11-for-15 in the half, while the rest of the Celtics shot just 3-for-24.

TWO-MAN GAME Boston took a three-point lead into the fourth quarter, and Marcus Smart and the C’s bench extended the lead to nine while Irving and Horford rested. After Boston’s dynamic duo returned, the Bucks were unable to close the gap. Milwaukee cut the lead to six with under six to play, but Irving drove baseline and found Horford for a wide-open 3-pointer that the big man splashed. Then, after Malcolm Brogdon cut the C’s lead to five, Irving crossed up Antetokounmpo and drilled a floater over two defenders. Two possessions later, Horford found Irving for a layup to swell the lead to nine and put the Bucks away.

UP NEXT The C’s will take the floor again Saturday when they travel to Miami to face the Heat. Tip-off from American Airlines Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. et
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Al Horford, Kyrie Irving combine for 50 in Celtics' 96-89 win over Bucks

NBC SPORTS BOSTON By A. Sherrod Blakely October 26, 2017 10:33 PM


MILWAUKEE – The tests just keep coming for Al Horford who found himself once again facing an extremely talented and versatile offensive player in Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Horford’s ability to defend Antetokounmpo better than anyone has this season along with having his best scoring game of the season, set the tone for Boston’s 96-89 win over Milwaukee.

The Celtics (3-2) have now won three in a row along with evening up the head-to-head series with the Bucks (3-2).

Horford finished with a near double-double this season, tallying 27 points and nine rebounds. Boston also got a strong game from Kyrie Irving who had 24 points and seven assists.

Antetokounmpo had a double-double with 28 points, 10 rebounds along with seven assists with most of his scoring coming when Horford wasn’t defending him.

Horford, whose defensive dexterity has led to him defending talented bigs like Joel Embiid to perimeter-oriented, highly-skilled bigs like Sixers Ben Simmons and New York’s Kristaps Porzingis.

But Antetokounmpo presented the ultimate challenge for Horford, with the Greek Freak coming in having scored at least 30 points in each of Milwaukee’s first four games.

However, the Bucks showed they were more than just a one-man show in the second quarter with contributions coming from several players. Milwaukee’s Malcolm Brogdon, the reigning rookie of the year, had 10 first-half points to help the Bucks rally from a double-digit deficit to lead Boston 44-43 at the half.

The Celtics had a chance at the very end to go ahead, but a desperation 3-point heave by Marcus Smart hit the back of the rim and bounced out as time expired.

Milwaukee’s first-half momentum carried over into the third quarter as they pushed their lead up to 59-52 following a 3-pointer by Khris Middleton which led to Celtics head coach Brad Stevens calling a time-out with 7:03 to play in the quarter.

Boston’s offense began to bog down in part because it became more predictable with Kyrie Irving and Horford being the only reliable sources scoring points for Boston.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who had a historically awesome performance in Boston’s 110-89 win over New York on Tuesday, struggled mightily most of the first half as they combined to miss 10 of their 11 shot attempts.

Boston fell behind 59-52, but went on a 13-4 run fueled by back-to-back corner 3’s by Horford.

The Bucks would regain the lead courtesy of some nice moves around the rim by Greg Monroe, but the Celtics continued to stay within striking distance with the quarter ending with Boston ahead 72-69 following a buzzer-beating basket from Al Horford as time expired.

Boston’s lead was down to 84-78 following a 3-pointer by Tony Snell, leading Celtics head coach Brad Stevens to call a time-out with 5:51 to play.

The Celtics came out of the time-out and got a 3-pointer from Horford with Boston’s control of the game never being an issue afterward.

112288

NICE WIN WITH SOME VERY TIMELY SHOOTING IN THE SECOND HALF.

COULD THIS BE THE NEXT DYNAMIC DUO.......IRVING TO HORTFORD......HORTFORD TO IRVING.

GREAT WIN !

112288

I mentioned in another thread that the Celtics look like a very good defensive team.  Tonight's win reinforces that belief.

Kyrie may be a pretty good player.

Horford was HUGE

once the offense catches up with the defense we will get a better feel for how good this team can become.

Dboss

Celts record through 5 games is 3-2

Same as last year.

Dboss

When these teams played the first time the Celtics were still staggered by the loss of G. They were playing better but couldn't finish. Tonight they did what they had to do to win. The switch of Theis and Baynes was a good move. Both are playing well and will continue to improve as they get more comfortable, Theis in the NBA and Baynes on the C's.

Marcus was big in the 4th quarter, he made some good plays and shots. But his game is what it is and will never get appreciably better. We are all going to have to hope that he focus' on what he can do well and not fall into the trap of trying to do too much.

Kyrie and All seem to be figuring things out and a month from now they will be playing a great two man game. I think I heard that Al dedicated this game to all those who question what he brings to the team.

The J's didn't have their best games by far but they still found a way to stay solid and in the game until the shots started to fall. Their consistency fell tonight but they made a come back and that is what is most important for young players like that.

TRo is showing his limitations. He's good and would make a good addition in a trade package at some point. Not a really bad trait to have but he tries too hard and that sets him up for failure rather than success.

The domination of teams like the Knicks and 76ers is to be expected but is not something the C's have done in the past. This year they will do much more of that. For teams like the Bucks esp with a star like Giannis, they have to find a way to win and hold their star in check. Rebounding is much better this year and the D will once again be a Celtics calling card.

This is a much better and deeper team than last year. Just follow Brad's process of getting better each game and this team will be fine in June.

A welcoming shoutout to Sandpd and Phil Pressey. I didn't participate in the game on thead but reading what you wrote glad to see you both here.

What I took away from this game is how much more comfortable and effective Al Horford is - both offensively and defensively - when he doesn't have to play at the center position. Having Baynes and Thies on the roster is a real blessing. Thank you, Danny Ainge for at last getting us some bangers!

Berlin-T

That game was a lot of fun. Back and forth and even when the Celtics were struggling offensively - they didnt hang their heads and keep after it on the defensive end.

When he is on, Kyrie is an effortless player. He does things on the court that defy description and does them like he is at the park, dressed like Uncle Drew. IT is an offensive force, but he has to exert so much pressure on himself to rise to the level necessary to complete in the NBA. Kyrie is almost the opposite. He just cruises around the court, smooth and unrushed. He is like a Ferrari driving the speed limit, just smirking at you because at a moments notice, he can EASILY drop the clutch and leave you in the dust.

Jaylen and Jason were both off and for stretches looked disinterested. Kind of par for the course for young players, but it made me think of the quote from Westbook last season after Smart had a good game against him "...“Uh, no. I don’t agree with you, but no. He had a good game…82 games. I do this. Don’t get it twisted.”

Before we go an spend too much effort coming up with a nickname for the duo and calling Tatum the favorite for ROY, lets get out of the second week of the season. Nicknames and accolades come via results OVER TIME. People should slow their role on both of these guys.

Otherwise lots of good contributions from the bench. Baynes is solid down low and really relieves Al of his at the rim responsibilities, big signing. Theis was solid as well. Semi played solid off the bench and gave about 10 minutes of solid Defense on Giannas - which was super helpful to Smart and Horford.

A great win and great growing experience for the team. Without Hayward, Morris, and with off games from two starters - they still won easily.

after 5 minutes of the opener the season changed big time. 2 loses in the time it took to regroup and now 3 wins...the first 2 yeah they were inferior teams but last evening on the road was no fluke against a quality opponent. Not everyone had a great game some might say that a couple guys had stinkers...so be it. It's a team game so as long as our stinkers beat there stinkers I can live with that for the next 75 games. And looking at the scoreboard in the end is really the only stat that matters.

Season is just starting, guys are getting a lot more comfortable with the style and more importantly with each other.

Seems there are a lot of people even on here being a bit too critical of some of the players. Scratch my head on that one for sure. Only 4 returning players and really only 2 of them saw a lot of time with Brown and TR not so much. In reality (compared to previous years) we have just finished the preseason before last nights game.

We played hard and never let them get a big run going.

We made the plays down the stretch......so The freek made a couple treys in the last stretch or this would have been over with 2 minutes to go.

They out shot us % wise but we out rebounded them a plenty.
Stat that jumped out at me....

BUCKS with only 2 offensive rebounds. Not sure if we have ever done a better job in that regard.


And IMHO we can only get better.

beat

A good team win over another of the quickly improving Eastern Conference teams.

Horford and Irving are developing good chemistry.

Brown and Tatum are going to continue to grow as long as they keep getting the big minutes they need. Like any player, they'll have off nights too. Still, it's about getting the minutes. In my opinion they're helping to dispel the myth that you always need to work young players in slowly.

At least in terms of spirit, Marcus Smart is emerging as the leader of this team.

I look forward to seeing if Morris can come in soon and give us a few minutes of tough defense off the bench.  That could be another big step forward, giving us a little more size. It's OK that he may not help on offense, since we're developing well enough there as is.  Ojeleye might possibly be able to contribute a bit on D, but he'll need a few more games to determine if he can compete with some of the speed and size he's going up against.

Baynes is proving to be one tough SOB. Anyone who can pick himself up off the floor after getting steam-rolled mid-air by The Freak is tough enough by me.

Credit where it's due; Antetokounmpo may be staking his claim as the single biggest all-around talent now in the league.

^^Well said. I kept thinking after that play over Aron - Giannis better not drive to the hoop again with Baynes is out there - or he is going to end up counting his teeth.

Daughter is heading to Boston to spend a week with Marcus and help with apartment searching but while there they will be at the next 2 Celtic home games next week. Kid is already using his connections to get some seats.

Initials of his new gig are at BC (Boston College). Maybe it's a bit of foreshadowing of getting another at another BC down the road.

Hopefully he can give me a report of the games next week.

beat

mulcogiseng wrote:When these teams played the first time the Celtics were still staggered by the loss of G. They were playing better but couldn't finish. Tonight they did what they had to do to win. The switch of Theis and Baynes was a good move. Both are playing well and will continue to improve as they get more comfortable, Theis in the NBA and Baynes on the C's.

Marcus was big in the 4th quarter, he made some good plays and shots. But his game is what it is and will never get appreciably better. We are all going to have to hope that he focus' on what he can do well and not fall into the trap of trying to do too much.

Kyrie and All seem to be figuring things out and a month from now they will be playing a great two man game. I think I heard that Al dedicated this game to all those who question what he brings to the team.

The J's didn't have their best games by far but they still found a way to stay solid and in the game until the shots started to fall. Their consistency fell tonight but they made a come back and that is what is most important for young players like that.

TRo is showing his limitations. He's good and would make a good addition in a trade package at some point. Not a really bad trait to have but he tries too hard and that sets him up for failure rather than success.

The domination of teams like the Knicks and 76ers is to be expected but is not something the C's have done in the past. This year they will do much more of that. For teams like the Bucks esp with a star like Giannis, they have to find a way to win and hold their star in check. Rebounding is much better this year and the D will once again be a Celtics calling card.

This is a much better and deeper team than last year. Just follow Brad's process of getting better each game and this team will be fine in June.

A welcoming shoutout to Sandpd and Phil Pressey. I didn't participate in the game on thead but reading what you wrote glad to see you both here.

for a guy who is uber athletic, TR always messes up fast break opportunities with either bad decisions or he can't finish.

I'm not sure I'd call this a 'signature' win but it was a great, gritty win against a good team, one that beat us at home just 3 games ago, on the road.    Winning on the road, and only shooting 42.3% is character building and when so many of your players are kids character building is always welcome because it pays dividends in March and April.

Kyrie had a very good game, he shot 10-18 on a night when our offense largely sucked, but he is SUCH a ME-baller.  In his defense he did have a very, very nice 2-man game going with Horford last night, and thank goodness for that!  Without those two playing All-Star quality games we would have lost this game.  MrKleen is right, he does make it look effortless.  Kidd tried everything, including trying to slow him down by putting The Freak on him, but nothing worked.  I opined, on the Game On! thread, about Kyrie's BBIQ, I'm not sure he's very smart.  Talented?  Oh Hell Yeah, but BBIQ smart?  We'll see over the course of this season if I'm right.  He looked dumb for most of this game but then had some great passes to Al that made me reconsider.  Last night, though, he was Uncle Drew.

Speaking of Al Horford, what a stud he was last night!  His best game in green so far.  27 points on 11-18.  He scored inside over uber-longs Maker, Giannis and Henson and everybody else and shot 4-5 from 3.  He had an 11 point 3rd quarter.  Defensively, he spent a lot of time guarding The Freak in the half court.  When Danny starts his marketing campaign to get Al on the All-Star team he should send the video highlights of this game to the All-Star coaching staff so they can make the right decision.

Not a good game for the Jumpin' Jays.  A combined 5-16 with Brown 2-10.  He was 0-8 and his two buckets were 3s in the 4th which were needed to hold them off.  9 rebounds for Jaylen, Jayson with a much quieter night.  We're going to get games like this from these young'uns, fortunately Al and Kyrie filled the hole this time, but they'll only get better and more consistent with time.

Theis with the start because Brad wanted Baynes off the bench to match up with Monroe, who had a field day against us in Boston.  Theis struggled a bit, but also forced some bad shots with his defense.  Baynes with 12 points on 3-6 and 6-6 from the line and 7 rebounds in 24 minutes.  How'd he do against Monroe?  Monroe had 8 points and 6 rebounds in 17 minutes.  That's pretty good against an offensively-oriented player like Monroe who is VERY slick, and powerful, down low.  It has been a long time since we've had two bangers like Theis and Baynes.  Theis is more mobile, a better leaper and shot blocker while Baynes is just pure beast.  I've been calling for the 15th spot to be filled with a big, and I still am, but those two are giving me hope that even if Danny goes in a different direction we'll still be ok. 

The Greek Freak is THE transcendental player of this era, with Embiid being a close second and Porzingis possibly being the third.  When, not if, he develops confidence in his jump shot there will won't be anybody or anyway to stop him.  With IT we used to say "how does he do that when he's that short?".  I say the same thing when I watch Giannis, except from the other direction.  "How does he do that when he's that tall?"  Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Davis are great players, I'd take either of them in green in a NY second, but they don't fundamentally change how you look at the game like the way Giannis does.  There has been a lot of inter-generational comparisons but a dramatic evolution of a species doesn't happen over just 2 or 3 generations.  Giannis, however, makes you stop and reconsider that. 

45 rebounds vs 37.  We won the rebounding battle again.  Over the first 5 games we have 230 total rebounds vs 222 by the other teams.  Our biggest negative differential was the -4 rebounding vs Cleveland in game 1, and I think we all understand why we were a bit discombobulated in that game.  Rebounding was one of our big problems last year, but it seems to have been straightened out this year, so far.  We are, in fact, 10th in the league in total rebounds/game.  Considering we were real near the bottom last year we're doing well.

Semi with some very good defense on the Freak in 14 minutes.  Didn't make a mark offensively but that is secondary to slowing that alien down.  Semi is ahead of Yabby on the depth chart, clearly.  Here's proof:  

Chris Forsberg @ESPNForsberg

about 48 minutes ago

Rookie chores: According to Synergy data about half of Semi Ojeleye’s defended possessions have come against LeBron, Giannis, or Porzingis.
reply retweet like

Smart with a brutal 2-10 game but his 2 were timely 3s.  His ankles are still weak, so some slack is reasonable (not that he was a good shooter when he's healthy).  Horford also gives him credit for noticing a weakness in Milwaukee's weak side defense.  Smart, capital 'S', now HE'S a smart player.  Good wheels or not his mouth never takes a night off.




Terry Rozier with 7 boards, taking over in that area that Bradley used to fill and in fewer minutes, but doing TRo things otherwise.  That means some bone-headed things as well as 2 steals.  


http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400974818


A road game in Miami (Kelly O's new home, as well as the new home of Cowens' favorite AJ Hammons), home for the Spurs and the Queens.  Regardless, we're 3-2 after an understandable 0-2 start with those 2 being b2bs and losing Hayward.  Not bad, not bad.  Brad seems to have righted the ship more quickly than I thought he would/could.


bob



.

Glad Ainge found a true 5 that gravitates to the dirty work in Baynes, glad KO and Zeller are gone, I don't care how nice and pretty their stats were. Whenever they were on the floor our defense was soft, now finally our defense looks a lot better this year, I wonder why? The 2 J's had off games, but hung in there and still made some plays later in game that were needed to pull off the win, at least they didn't Jeff Green it, they still battled. Kyrie makes some ridiculous shots/moves every game, hes not dominating the ball too much and is a willing passer. Best overall game from Al maybe ever in green, his defense last few games has been stellar. The way they train and take care of themselves today, Al may well play very well into his mid 30's, his outside shot sure looks improved. What can I say about Marcus Smart? No impact until the 4th, hope he gets his game together.

Embiid and KP at this point aren't 2nd and 3rd. Towns and Davis are well ahead of them. Davis is probably the most complete one at this point. Giannis has the most upside, comparable to a young, not quite as strong Lebron. Embiid, KP, Jokic, their in a tier below.

did someone say uncle Drew?

Last night Jason tatum scored 12 points on 3-6 shooting and a solid 5-5 from the line.  He did not get a lot of rebounds but played solid defense.

Jaylen Brown could not seem to make his outside shots and while he struggled scoring the ball he stayed with it and eventually made very important and timely baskets for us.  He played hard and grabbed 9 rebounds.

Terry Rosier also struggled shooting the ball but he fought through screens on defense and grabbed 7 rebounds and had 2 steals.

Marcus came in the game and looked like he was playing basketball for the first time.  But there he was down the stretch making buckets and and plays for his teammates.

I am highlighting these individual contributions to remind all of us that every game is not going to be great yet collectively their play contributed to a great win on the road against a really tough opponent.

The Celtics have a long way to go but as I mentioned their record through 5 games mirrors where they were at the same point last year.

The TNT clown show counted our team out.  I think they look at teams mostly in terms of who the stars are.  They miss the collective effort of a team and how it will contribute to winning.

The early season adversity experienced by the Celtics is turning into a mental toughness that will push them past the bumps in the road.

dboss

Tatum didn't really have a terrible game, just didn't take a lot of shots, 3 of 6 from the field, 5 of 5 from the line, 12 points in 28 minutes. Efficient overall in limited opportunities

Kyle

I hope you do not think I was suggesting that Tatum had a terrible game.

This kid has played well in all 5 games.

On a side note, I was looking at him standing near Horford and he actually looked taller. probably the angle.

Towns has been playing some really poor D, but yes, he is a quality player.

Horford - he is really stroking it. Last year in the playoffs he shot .519% from 3. 1.5 made on 2.9 3 point attempts per game in the playoffs. This year he is 9/20 from beyond the arc, a .450% clip.


Not too shabby. Baynes and Theis were Danny's thank you present to Al.

Last night Theis helped us win but as you know he went scoreless in 19 minutes. He has NOT been integrated into the offense.

For the record, Theis will be an excellent high pick and role option. Look for Brad to utilize Theis more on the offensive end but let's be patient because the offense is still a getting to know you affair.

dboss

dboss wrote:Last night Theis helped us win but as you know he went scoreless in 19 minutes.  He has NOT been integrated into the offense.

For the record, Theis will be an excellent high pick and role option.  Look for Brad to utilize Theis more on the offensive end but let's be patient because the offense is still a getting to know you affair.

dboss

Dboss,

I agree.  I think Theis is an even better pnr prospect than Baynes because he is more mobile and will roll faster.


bob


.

dboss wrote:Kyle

I hope you do not think I was suggesting that Tatum had a terrible game.

This kid has played well in all 5 games.  

On a side note, I was looking at him standing near Horford and he actually looked taller.  probably the angle.

It was bad timing. I was working through the thread. Didn't see your post before posting

Agreed on Theis. He has skills that fit well to the style of offense, stretching the floor, etc. Once he's been integrated, there's a lot of upside on both ends of the floor.