Up Next - Celtics @ Bucks, Thursday February 21, 2019 at 8:00 PM

The Celtics have a few days left before hitting the road again to play the Bucks in Milwaukee on Thursday, the 21st.  This upcoming game will be one in a series of upcoming games that will determine Boston's playoff seeding.

As everyone knows, we have played them twice splitting home and  away meetings.  I thought I would get this posted earlier so that we can get more feedback from members  to weigh in.

I do want to refrain from looking at last year's Bucks team because this is a very different team but I would be remiss not to point out how they have improved.

The most significant difference is the  increase in their offensive.  Last year they averaged  106.5 PPG with a negative point differential of -0.3  This year they area 10 points per game better at 116.9 and a +9.8 differential.  That is phenomenal.

Fans may not fully appreciate what the Bucks have accomplished.  When you see them you need to think about the San Antonio Spurs.  Mike Budenholze took over this year and I'll be damned if this team does not remind me of the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks that posted a 60-22 record.  Coach Bud spent 20 years under Popovich.  He has been able to take what he has learned and replicate it first in the ATL and now in Milwaukee.

This is a team that demands a maximum effort by the Celtics in all areas of the game.  

I must say that it is hard to find a real weakness.  Their man guy and how you play him and how you play his supporting cast will be a chess match.  We do not have anybody who can check the freak and they do not have anybody who can check Kyrie Irving.  The Celtics however would do well to focus their attention on staying with their assignments.    They need to stay in front of those guys and close them out on the perimeter.  They can do that.  I think defense by committee will be employed with different guys getting a crack at Giannis.  By showing him different looks he will have to make a lot of adjustments but we know what he wants to do.  He wants to drive the ball and lay it in or use the spin move to get to the cup.    I think you can selectively bring some double teaming to take the ball out of his hands.  He will turn the ball over.  

Whoever shoots the 3 the best and defends the 3 the best will win this game.

Giannis likes to rebound and run a one man fast break.  The Celtics need to make contact with him early in the process because in the open court he is virtually unstoppable.  If you screw around after missing a shot you are dead to rights.

The Celtics need to establish their defensive dominance and the offense will flow from there.

If the Celtics manage to go on the road and beat the Bucks it will change the entire picture for the NBA.  At this point in the season Boston needs to win a lot of tough games on the road.  There is no more wiggle room.

You are correct dboss...This is the season right here, right now. We will know who the Boston Celtics are after this next run of games on the road. Given they probably won't finish in 2nd, they will have to win on the road to advance in the playoffs.

We have clearly seen glimmers these last few weeks but then Los Angeles came to town twice. We really need to go full throttle now....24-0 is the only option! MOV +10 BAM!

db

I agree, this game could set the tone for the rest of the season. Bucks beat us rather easy in Boston. We need to win on their court even if its a last second shot. Brad better have some quick double teams in store for the freak. We can't just give him layup after layup. His layups made are going to amount to more efficient points than the 3 pointers they make unless they shoot like the Lakers did to us.

We have to double him, make him give up the ball and get back to our man. Fake some double teams and not let him have position under the goal. I know its hard but I have seen a couple teams play his this way this year and they were effective.

Send Giannis a large box of baklava, another of galactobouriko, and a bottle of raki the night before the game. That may slow him down.

I just hope we don't come out flat. Probably won't be able to make any of it up if we do.

db

We beat them at home 117-113 and lost on the road 120-107.

AH and Morris and Baynes did not play in that second game on 12/21 and we were pounded on the glass 64-46.  They shot 40% from deep and the Celtics shot 29.4%.  Kyrie had a below average game scoring only 15 points and the J's led us in scoring with Brown at 21 and Jason at 20.  That 13 point loss could have been a win with a few more makes and a few more stops and a few more rebounds.

You can be sure that Boston has dug into the game film for the Bucks and know exactly what they need to do.  That loss is a perfect example of playing on the road shorthanded against a quality opponent.  Defensive intensity like what we saw against Philly will turn the tide.

I do not know how you are feeling but for me I am fired up.

We will will them to victory. Keep the energy flowing.

Gordon Hayward is questionable tomorrow night due to a twisted ankle.

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/02/gordon-hayward-injury-boston-celtics-wing-twists-right-ankle-during-workout.html

It seems whenever the team appears to be healthy, a twisted ankle or knee or flu like symptoms rob the team of man hours.

It is what it is but it does not really change what Boston must do tomorrow night. Jaylen Brown probably logs 30 minutes so there should be no noticeable drop off for the Celtics. Jaylen has been playing well at both ends.

If he plays on Thursday - it will be intersting to see the impact that 6'10" 250lb Nikola Mirotic has on the game.

swish

swish wrote:If he plays on Thursday - it will be interesting to see the impact that 6'10" 250 lb Nikola Mirotic has on the game.

  swish

I think the two players on the Bucks roster that will lose minutes are Ilyasova and DJ Wilson. I think this move was made to help the Buck get a better matchup with the Celtics. Lopez may also see his MPG go down a bit.

Lopez averages 27 minutes per game but when the Bucks play Boston he averaged 23.5 MPG (2 games this year) They are using Lopez as a stretch 5 and he leads their team in 3P FGA at 6.5. I think we will see Mirotic in there quite a bit and the Bucks will play without a true center. This may appear to be a simple change but it could get more complicated. Mirotic is not a particularly good on the ball defender but he can definitely shoot the rock and is pretty solid on the glass.

Mirotic is coming off of a calf injury so i do not think we will see extended minutes from him tonight,