Bucks (1-1) at Celtics (1-1) Round 2 Game 3 5/3/19

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Milwaukee Bucks (1-1) at Boston Celtics (1-1)
Friday, May 3, 2019
8:00 PM ET
Round 2 Game [HASH]3, Home Game [HASH]1
TV: ESPN
98.5 Sports Hub, 620 AM WTMJ
TD Garden



Probable Starters
Point Guard

Kyrie Irving

Shooting Guard

Jaylen Brown

Small Forward

Jayson Tatum

Power Forward

Marcus Morris

Center

Al Horford

Celtics Reserves
Gordon Hayward
Terry Rozier
Daniel Theis
Brad Wanamaker
Robert Williams III
Semi Ojeleye
Guerschon Yabusele
Jonathan Gibson
Aron Baynes

Injuries
Marcus Smart (oblique) out

Two Way Players
RJ Hunter
P. J. Dozier

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Probable Starters
Point Guard

Eric Bledsoe

Shooting Guard

Khris Middleton

Small Forward

Nikola Mirotic

Power Forward

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Center

Brook Lopez

Bucks Reserves
Pat Connaughton
Tim Frazier
George Hill
Ersan Ilyasova
Nikola Mirotic
Tony Snell
DJ Wilson
Sterling Brown

Injuries
Malcolm Brogdon (plantar fascia) out
Donte DiVicenzo (heel) out
Pau Gasol (ankle) game time decision

Two Way Players
Trevon Duval
Bonzie Colson

Head Coach
Mike Budenholzer

Game Notes
The series shifts to Boston with the teams tied 1-1, making it now a 5 game series with the Celtics now having home court advantage. The Celtics blew out the Bucks in Game 1 but the Bucks came back with a blow out of their own in Game 2. The Celtics are hoping that getting back to their own home court will also help them get back on track.

After insisting that he wasn't going to make any adjustments after losing Game 1, Bucks coach, Mike Budenholzer, did make changes and it seemed to throw the Celtics off their game. He started Nikola Mirotic in place of Sterling Brown, and the Bucks started to switch on defense. Now it's Brad Stevens' turn to make adjustments.

Kyrie Irving had the worst playoff game of his career in Game 2, shooting just 4-18 and scoring just 9 points. Jayson Tatum has yet to have a good game in this series, scoring just 9 points and shooting 4-17 over the 2 games in Milwaukee. Hayward was just 1-5 and Rozier was just 2-10 in Game 2. They are bound to do shoot in this game.

Although there were rumors that the Bucks would get Malcolm Brogdon back for this game after he went through a practice with the team, the Bucks announced on Thursday that Brogdon would be out for this game. Marcus Smart is also nearing a return to action as he was seen dunking at practice but he has yet to practice 5 on 5 with the team and is also listed as out for this game.

Key Matchups
vs
Al Horford vs Giannis Antetokounmpo
This matchup is key for both teams. Although on paper, Morris is matched up against Antetokounmpo, it has been Al Horford who spent most of the time guarding him in Games 1 and 2. It has been a team effort to guard the probable league MVP. The Celtics will need Al to continue to do all the things that he does on both ends of the court to help the Celtics win.

vs
Kyrie Irving vs Eric Bledsoe
Kyrie had a great Game 1 with 26 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds. He also held Bledsoe to 6 points on 1-5 shooting with 2 rebounds, and 4 assists. Game 2 was a completely different story, however. Kyrie scored just 9 points on 4-18 shooting with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 turnovers. Bledsoe had 21 points on 7-12 shooting. The Bucks will likely double Kyrie once again and he will need to be aggressive on the defensive end and figure out the Bucks' defense because the Celtics need a return of Playoff Kyrie if they hope to win this game.

Honorable Mention
Jayson Tatum vs Khris Middleton
Middleton had big games last season for the Bucks. He was held to 16 point on 5-12 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and 6 assists in Game 1 but he erupted for 28 points and 7 rebounds in Game 2. Between last year and this year so far, Middleton is shooting 63% from beyond the arc. Tatum has struggled mightily on the offensive end in both games, scoring just 9 points total and going 0-3 from beyond the arc. The Celtics need more from Tatum, especially on the defensive end to keep Middleton from having another big game.

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense wins championships and defense will decide this series. In Game 1, defense definitely was the deciding factor. The Celtics held the Bucks to 34.8% shooting from the field and 33.3% shooting from beyond the arc. The Bucks allowed the Celtics to shoot 54% from the field and 41.9% from beyond the arc. In Game 2, Milwaukee was the team that played tough defense, doubling Kyrie and switching on defense, holding the Celtics to 39.5% from the field and 35.7% from beyond the arc. The Celtics allowed the Bucks to shoot 44.4% from the field and 42.6% from three. The Celtics must get back to playing tough in your face defense, especially on the perimeter.

Rebound - Next to defense, rebounding is a key to winning. In Game 1, the Celtics out-rebounded the Bucks 51-44. In Game 2, the Bucks out-rebounded the Celtics 53-45. It isn't surprising that the team that won the rebound battle won each game. Much of rebounding is effort and desire and when the Celtics put out the extra effort on the boards, it usually carries through to the rest of their game. The Celtics must continue to crash the glass as a team and give even more effort on the boards in this game.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics were definitely the more aggressive team in Game 1 and also were aggressive in the first half of Game 2. However, the Bucks came out as the more aggressive team in the second half and were able to pull away for the big win. The Celtics have to be the first to loose balls and rebounds and they have to be aggressive getting to the basket and to be the more aggressive team on defense. The team that is more aggressive and that plays harder will be the team that wins.

Move the Ball - When the Celtics move the ball and find the open man, they are tough to beat. In Game 1, the Celtics had 27 assists but in Game 2, they had just 19 assists. In the second half, the Celtics slipped back into hero ball and that style of basketball rarely wins. They have to play team ball and trust each other and make the extra pass to find the open man. NO hero ball.

No Let Up - The Celtics need to come out strong and play hard from start to finish. They can't let the officiating, or a Bucks run, or a hostile crowd slow them down. In their first 5 games in the playoffs, the Celtics proved to be resilient and have handled whatever their opponents threw at them. In Game 2, when the Bucks went on a run, the Celtics lapsed into hero ball to try to get back into it and failed and that affected their effort on defense and the rest of their game. They must play hard team basketball from the opening tip to the final buzzer with no let up.

Coaching - Brad made the first move and completely took the Bucks by surprise by limiting Antetokounmpo. Budenholzer countered with his own adjustments, doubling Kyrie and switching on defense and that seemed to take the Celtics by surprise. Now it's once again Brad's move. Playoffs are a chess match and we will have to see which coach can make the winning moves.

X-Factors
Home Court Advantage - The Celtics now have home court advantage in the series after their Game 1 win in Milwaukee. The Bucks were 27-14 on the road in the regular season and are 2-0 so far in the playoffs on the road. The Celtics will depend on the Garden crowd to be loud and give them a boost while also rattling the Bucks. The Celtics need to make home court work for them and come out determined to defend their home court.

Officiating
Officiating is always an X-Factor. Sometimes the refs just miss things or sometimes they have an agenda. Some refs call a game tight and call every little bit of contact on both ends and sometimes they call it tight for one team but not the other. Sometimes they let both teams play and only call the most obvious infractions. The way a game is officiated can change the outcome completely. Hopefully the Celtics will get refs that call the game evenly and let both teams play.

[afceltic]

We need to take advantage of how these playoffs are playing perfectly for us. Start off with Indiana, get Milwaukee and Philly looks like they may eliminate Toronto. We own Philly and they would be the closest thing to having a bye to get to the Finals.

[Roadrunner]

BOS needs to defend home court tonight. Kyrie, Rozier, Tatum need to contribute much more than game [HASH]2.

[DERRENMATTS]

Important game here. If we lose tonight on our court, the momentum is clearly on Milwaukee’s side, and their confidence will be sky high. Conversely, we will be deflated, and questions about regressing back to our dysfunctional state will abound.

We must win tonight!

[DERRENMATTS]

Brad Stevens has got to be on the top of his game too. If he sees things that aren't right, he needs to make corrections and adjustments, even if that means he sits a player, or overextends playing time for another.

[DERRENMATTS]

Semi is already in the game. Brad is trying different things.

Tatum has already exceeded his scoring average in this series, and we're only 7+ minutes into this game.

[DERRENMATTS]

I hate Pat Connaughton (not really, let me explain). My Orioles had drafted him in the MLB draft a few years ago, with the hopes that he would eventually pursue baseball, if basketball didn't work out for him. Well, we basically wasted a draft slot on him. On now he's giving more grief by knocking down big shots against my Celtics!!

[DERRENMATTS]

We've got to build a huge lead against the Bucks. Cannot be comfortable being up 5.

[runrondo]

Bench is going to have to contribute at some point. I'm getting tired of watching Giannis just bully his way to the basket with a straight drive, a really long step and potential travel, or a spin move.

[DERRENMATTS]

Up 1 at the half. Scary thing is, we have a pretty balanced attack from most of the guys we are leaning on to score (Hayward and Horford could help more here, but Jaylen and Tatum have put up solid numbers in the first half). But the Bucks main players haven't scored much. Will that change in the 2nd half? I'm talking about Middleton, who normally gives us fits, and Bledsoe, who's more than capable of getting hot.

Giannis, as usual, got to the line a lot. He's been to the line twice as many times as we have collectively as a team.

[afceltic]

Not to mention throwing his off arm to push the defender out of the way to clear the lane. While they are hacking the crap out of us in the lane and the refs are swallowing their whistles.

They need to either let us play or start calling them for their fouls in tbe lane.

The 3rd quarter has decided the first two games so hopefully they come out focused and the refs call it even in the second half.

[DERRENMATTS]

May 3, 2019 20:11:32 GMT -5 runrondo said:

Bench is going to have to contribute at some point. I'm getting tired of watching Giannis just bully his way to the basket with a straight drive, a really long step and potential travel, or a spin move.

He's also killing us with his passes out to the perimeter, where they've knocked down a couple at the close of the 2nd to sustain their run.

[afceltic]

As for the bench the scoring will have to cone from Hayward and Rozier because the only other two guys that have played off the bench are Baynes and Semi who are not scorers.

[DERRENMATTS]

May 3, 2019 20:17:26 GMT -5 afceltic said:

Not to mention throwing his off arm to push the defender out of the way to clear the lane. While they are hacking the crap out of us in the lane and the refs are swallowing their whistles.

They need to either let us play or start calling them for their fouls in tbe lane.

The 3rd quarter has decided the first two games so hopefully they come out focused and the refs call it even in the second half.

Right, whoever wins this 3rd quarter might be the one who ends up winning this series. Crazy to think how much the 3rd quarters have essentially determined the winners of the 1st two games between us.

[DERRENMATTS]

May 3, 2019 20:19:55 GMT -5 afceltic said:

As for the bench the scoring will have to cone from Hayward and Rozier because the only other two guys that have played off the bench are Baynes and Semi who are not scorers.

In practice, Rozier hit 22 consecutive three's -- let's hope he saved some for the 2nd half of this game.

Hayward's got to take more responsibility on offense.

Morris has done really well so far in this series. Please keep it up, Mook.