Celtics and Bucks Series At 1-2

Celtics and Bucks Series At 1-2

Amber Buttaro

The Boston Celtics sweeped the Indiana Pacers in series 1 of the NBA finals. The Celtics now have a new competition and it’s the number 1 seed in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks. On April 28th, the Celtics played the first game of the series against the Bucks in Milwaukee. With the Bucks being led all season by all-star​ ​Giannis Antetokounmpo​, it was quite obvious that it would be a challenging team to beat. However with the odd stacked against them, per usual, the Celtics managed to pull out a first game win.

They did not just pull out a win, but they actually dominated the Bucks. Kyrie Irving finished the night with 26 points, but the star of the game was Al Horford. Horford had 20 points and 11 rebounds. He also finished the night with three major blocks against​ Antetokounmpo​. Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown both added a lot to the court coming off the bench. Hayward ended the night with 11 points while Brownended with 19. Antetokounmpo was the leading scorer for the Bucks with 22 points, but shot only seven for 21 from the foul line. Horford knew that the task of defending Antetokounmpo was not going to be easy. Horford claimed, ​“Our focus was to make sure that we just made it tough on him every time, just making sure he earned everything he got,”. When Antetokounmpo was asked about the loss he said, “It was one of the toughest losses we’ve ever had, all season, especially at home,”. The Celtics won game one 112-90.

Game two was a different story for both teams. The teams faced off once again in Milwaukee, but the game ended with a different outcome than the first. The Bucks responded right back to the Celtics reminding them that this was not going to be an easy series to win. In game two the Bucks made 20 three-pointers, which is currently a franchise playoff record. Khris Middleton led the Bucks early by making five three pointers before half time. In total, Middleton had 28 points and 11 of them came from the second quarter. The second half of the game was when Anterokounmpo started to shine. He helped the Bucks go on a 12-0 point run and then a 24-2 point run which ended the game. The Celtics finished the night only 39.5% from the floor as a result from a far more aggressive Bucks defense. The Milwaukee Bucks tied the second round playoff series on Sunday with a 123-102 victory.

Game three was played in Boston on May 3rd. The C’s lost to the Bucks at 123-116. We will see how game four goes for the Celtics.