Getty Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston Celtics
In a result that nobody saw coming, the Boston Celtics blew out the Milwaukee Bucks on March 31, winning the game by 41 points with a 140-99 scoreline.
From the opening tip, the Celtics were clearly the hungrier team and looked to dominate the contest on both ends, limiting Milwaukee’s ability to earn second-chance points and nullifying their best players. Of course, it also helps that Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart all had big nights.
When speaking during his post-game press conference, Giannis Antetokounmpo was humble, admitting the Celtics whooped his team, and warned Milwaukee that they will need to improve if the two Eastern Conference contenders face each other in the playoffs.
“Know what the deal is? It’s not hard to understand,” Giannis said. “If you you’re not focused. If you don’t play hard, they’re gonna kick ass, simple as that. They did it tonight and won by 40. If you’re not locked in, if you don’t play hard, and if don’t go out there to make it tough for them, they’re gonna kick out ass. Simple as that. There’s no level of concern. It’s a fact. So now you have this in your head. And this is up to us to see how we’re gonna deal with it. Are we gonna go and play the same way? And if we play the same way, gonna have the same outcome. Gotta change some stuff. We gotta compete. Gotta have some pride, you know, and hopefully, we can do that; then, if we do that, we have a chance to win.”
Giannis performed well during the contest, scoring 24 points. grabbing 7 rebounds and making 2 assists while shooting 40.7% from the field, but he did go 0-of-5 from deep.
Mike Budenholzer Issues Statement After Loss
Milwaukee currently holds the best record in the Eastern Conference but once again failed to control the Celtics on the perimeter, allowing them to shoot 43 shots from deep, where they made 22 of them.
After the game, Budenholzer spoke of what makes Boston such a difficult team to guard as he addressed the media.
“I mean, they execute,” Budenholzer said. “They cut hard, they screen hard, and they shoot them off the dribble. That’s probably the biggest thing. So, we got to look at it; we got to find a way to be better against the three-point line.”
Milwaukee currently boasts the fifth-ranked defense for defending threes, according to Cleaning The Glass, with them holding opponents to 35.2% shooting over the season. As such, Celtics fans will be encouraged that their team was able to find consistent success against such a well-drilled defensive unit.
Jayson Tatum Expects to See Bucks in Playoffs
Since returning from the All-Star break, Tatum has been struggling from three-point range; however, against Milwaukee, he found his rhythm from deep and was clearly the best player on the court.
Yet, during his post-game press conference, Tatum was clear that should Boston see this team again in the postseason, things probably won’t be so easy.
“I mean, we got a lot of history with them,” Tatum said. “Very familiar with them. And tonight, we shot the ball, well, they didn’t shoot it well. If we play them again in the postseason, it’s probably not gonna be like this. They feel like they probably could have played a lot better. They missed a lot of open shots. So that’s something that we probably gotta clean up. But probably down the line, we probably have to see them again; it’s gonna be a tough battle.”
Boston will be back in action on Friday, March 31, when they face the Utah Jazz on the second night of a back-to-back.