Getty Al Horford, Boston Celtics
When the Boston Celtics face off against the Milwaukee Bucks in the opening game of their second-round matchup, all eyes will be on how Ime Udoka plans to contain superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Without Khris Middleton for the entire series, Giannis and the Bucks will have their work cut out for them, as breaking down the Celtics’ defense is a tall order even for the best of teams. However, if there was ever a player to smash through Boston’s defensive wall it would be Giannis, and judging by how he’s been performing in the post-season, it’s logical to assume he finds ways to be successful.
Of course, the Celtics will be doing everything to limit Giannis’ impact and force the rest of the Bucks roster to beat them, and how they fare in that task will ultimately decide their chances of success. Opinions on Boston’s ability to navigate this tricky second-round match-up are evenly split, with some believing that Udoka’s men are ready to contend for a championship this season, and others expecting them to fail miserably.
Ric Bucher is erring on the side of failure, as he told Colin Cowherd that he believes the Celtics will be unable to contain Miluwakee’s human battering ram, and as such, will be booking their vacations in the coming the weeks.
“There’s no chance that Al Horford is going to be able to defend this Giannis, so they’re gonna have to start looking to double team him, much like Chicago did. And as a result of what Giannis (Antetokounmpo) has demonstrated is that he can play out of that mid-post he can get guys, he can find guys and he can score from there with mid-range shots, enough to keep them honest.
I just believe that Boston for what they did against Brooklyn, I believe everybody’s taking that as a referendum on how good their defense is, and make no mistake, their defense is really good, but I believe that it’s been inflated by the issues that Brooklyn had. Brooklyn was a lot easier to figure out than this Milwaukee Bucks team,” Bucher said.
Giannis is on a Tear
There isn’t a more dominant player than Giannis in the NBA right now. Physically gifted, athletically superior, and with a relentless will to win, the Bucks star is a problem for whatever team stands in front of him. However, the Celtics operate as a unit on the defensive side of the floor, and won’t hyperfocus on just one player if that means being hurt by kick-out threes or secondary drives – it’s not in their defensive DNA to do so.
Giannis just dropped the most casual 33 points on 11-15 shooting across only 30 minutes to eliminate the Bulls.
The best player in the world makes it look too easy at times. He’s unstoppable when locked in beast mode.
Still, when you look at the stats, Giannis is a scary proposition. Over five games against the Chicago Bulls, the superstar wing put up video game numbers, dropping 28.6 points, 6.2 assists, and 13.4 rebounds per game on 56.8% shooting from the field.
Of course, the Celtics will want to keep Giannis on the perimeter, as if he can’t get going downhill, his impact on the game is greatly reduced. But, limiting Giannis is a task every team tries and fails to execute, however, no team is better positioned to contain the Bucks star than the Celtics courtesy of their deep roster filled with two-way players.
The Celtics Aren’t Hiding From Anyone
When the regular season was drawing to a close, and a battle for the second seed was underway, Boston went against conventional wisdom and fought for the highest possible finish, regardless of what that meant for their potential playoff opponents. Where most teams happily fell to avoid the Brooklyn Nets, the Celtics embraced the fight and subsequently swept Kevin Durant and co. in the first round.
“We understood it’s the playoffs and we’re going to have to play really good teams regardless. We’re a basketball team, not a track team. We’re not running from people,” Ime Udoka recently told the media when asked about the team’s difficult path towards the NBA finals.
Part of what has made the Celtics so formidable this year is that they don’t back down from a fight. When teams raise the physicality level, the Celtics repay the favor, and when games begin to slip away, Boston regroups and rally’s towards the finish line. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they’re happy to face the best teams in the league en route to a potential championship, and it’s that fearlessness that will enable them to remain competitive when facing the reigning NBA champions in their second-round series.
The opening game between the Celtics and Bucks is scheduled to take place at the TD Garden on Sunday, May 1, where we can finally learn about how Boston intends to limit Giannis while still remaining a viable threat on the offensive side of the floor.