J-Speaks: The Bucks Take Down The Celtics In Semis In Five Games

Last season, the No. 2 Boston Celtics took down the No. 7 Seeded Milwaukee Bucks in seven games in the First-Round of 2018 NBA Playoffs. That was without All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward who were out because of injury. With both of them back and coming off a four-game sweep of the shorthanded Indiana Pacers in the opening-round of the 2019 NBA postseason, the C’s thought they would take down the Bucks again in the Semifinals, especially after a dominant win in Game 1 in their gym. That was not the case. 

The Bucks led by the leading Kia MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo closed out the Celtics in Game 5 116-91 to win the series 4-1, winning the final four games in succession by an average of 16.3 points to improve to a league postseason best 8-1, with seven of those wins by double-digits, as they advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2001. 

Antetokounmpo, who averaged 28.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.6 block shots in the Semis against the Celtics had a solid 20 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and two steals in the close out victory on Wednesday night on TNT. 

What “The Greek Freak” really showed in this series was his ability to score the basketball to go along with his all-around versatility in other aspects of the game. He dominated in the paint scoring wise, which is not a shocker scoring as he had 10, 16 and 26 of his 29, 31 and 39 points in the paint in the prior three games entering Game 5. 

He also managed to consistently get to the free throw line, which has been a constant for him going back to the opening-round sweep of the No. 8 Seeded Detroit Pistons 4-0. After going 5 for 10 from the charity stripe in the Bucks 112-90 loss in Game 1 on Apr. 28 on ABC, Antetokounmpo went 40-55 the last four games, which included a 13 for 18 performance in the Bucks’ 123-102 win in Game 2 on Apr. 30 on TNT to tie the series at 1-1 and a 16 for 22 performance in the team’s 123-116 win in Game 3 on Friday night on ESPN to go up 2-1 in the Semis. 

As good as Antetokounmpo was in the series, it was the play of the supporting cast around that also played a major role in them taking down the East runners-up the last two seasons. 

First-time All-Star Khris Middleton had 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while starting lead guard Eric Bledsoe, who outplayed Irving this series had 18 points and six boards on 7 for 14 shooting. Veteran reserve guard George Hill had another strong game off the bench with 16 points on 6 for 10 shooting, including 3 for 6 from three-point range. The other starting forward Nikola Mirotic, who was placed in the starting lineup to provide a better offensive punch, especially from the perimeter had 10 points, 11 rebounds and two steals, while Ersan Ilyasova also had 10 points with seven rebounds off the bench. Former starting guard Malcolm Brogdon, who had been out the last 21 games, including the playoffs due to a plantar fascia in his right foot had 10 points and four assists off the bench. 

“It’s amazing. It was a team effort,” Antetokounmpo, who tied former Bucks’ great and color analyst for the team for FOX Sports Wisconsin Marques Johnson with his eighth 30-plus point performance in the 113-101 win in Game 4 on Monday night said to NBA on TNT’s Kristen Ledlow after the Game 5 victory. “We did not mess around with the game. We came and did out job. We defended, moved the ball. That’s why we were able to close the game.” 

That ball movement by the Bucks equated to 27 assists on 42 made field goals and 44 points in the paint to the Celtics 36. 

The Bucks also as Antetokounmpo mentioned defended the Celtics really well since dropping Game 1. Following a 54 percent shooting performance in the Game 1 win, the Celtics were held to 40, 43, 38 and 31 percent in their four straight losses. 

The Bucks along with holding the C’s to 31.2 percent from the field on Wednesday night, head coach Mike Budenholzer’s squad out rebounded them 68-61; had seven block shots and forced 14 turnovers, eight of which were steals, that led to 15 Bucks points.  

“They are one hell of a basketball team,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said after the loss. “They were tremendous and credit them. Credit their coaches, credit their players.”

After the Game 1 loss, Antetokounmpo said the team needed to get back to playing Milwaukee Bucks basketball, which they did. They as mentioned moved the basketball on offensive. They were connected like a chain on the defensive end and it was more than just their perennial All-Star that stepped to the forefront. 

With Brogdon out, it was up to the likes of Mirotic, Bledsoe, Hill, Ilyasova, Sterling Brown and Massachusetts native Pat Connaughton to step up, especially in this series as the Bucks bench outscored the Celtics reserves by 51 points. 

To bring this point into clearer context, Hill in the prior mentioned Game 3 victory at the C’s had 11 of his 21 points off the bench in the third quarter going 9 for 12 shooting. That was followed by a 15-point performance in the prior mentioned Game 4 win, with nine of those points registered in the third quarter on 6 for 11 from the floor. He had just one turnover total in the series.  

Connaughton, who was very under the radar signing last off-season got minutes in this series off the bench and was very productive, especially on the glass. While he had just five points in the Game 2 win, he had 11 rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes. He had 14 points seven boards in Game 3. That was followed by nine points and 10 boards in Game 4 and seven points and 11 rebounds in the close out win on Wednesday night. 

“I think out mindset changed,” Antetokounmpo said to Ledlow. “I think in the first game we wasn’t focused enough. We wasn’t ourselves. I think the next four games we came out with a different approach, a different mindset-the killer mindset and we was able to win these four games.” 

As great as the Bucks were in these four games, the Celtics, who had championships aspirations entering this season played nowhere close to the level that they showed at times against the Pacers but how they played over the last two postseasons. 

The inclination was that with the return of Irving and Hayward that the Celtics would be the team that the likes of the Toronto Raptors, Bucks, Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers would be looking up at. 

Instead much of this season, the Celtics were a team that struggled to get on the same page; accept or even know their individual roles; be on a connective string, especially at the defensive end and be willing to do the hard things necessary to win. 

After scoring 26 points with 11 assists and seven rebounds on 12 for 21 shooting in Game 1, the perennial All-Star finished the series with a 20.4 scoring average on 35.2 percent from the floor and 22.7 percent from three-point range. Even with his 11 for 12 performance from the charity stripe where he scored 29 points in the Game 3 was just 10 for 11 from the charity stripe combined the final four games. 

To further illustrate Irving’s offensive struggles against the Bucks, he was 19 for 62 shooting entering Game 5 and went just 6 for 21 from the floor, including 1 for 7 from three-point range in the close out loss, which possibly could be his last game with the Celtics as he can opt out the final year of his deal along with Horford and be unrestricted free agents this summer.   

That led to constant infighting and team meetings and a lot of that had to do with Irving’s ability to be the kind of leader that could lift his younger teammates like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and his understudy Terry Rozier. 

Tatum after averaging 18.5 points on 47.1 percent from the field in the 2018 NBA Playoffs as a rookie, averaged 15.2 points on 43.8 percent from the floor this postseason, which includes averages of just 12.0 points on 34.3 percent from the field in the Semis against the Bucks, following 19.3 scoring average on 49.9 percent from the field in the 4-0 sweep of the Pacers in the opening-round. 

Last season’s No. 3 overall pick out of Duke University had double-doubles of 20 points and 11 rebounds and 17 points and 10 boards in Games 3 and 4 but had just 14 points and six boards with much of his scoring coming at the foul line where he went 9 for 12, but just 3 for 10 from the field in Game 5. 

Brown, who finished the series against the Pacers on a high note played well against the Bucks with averages of 16.2 points and five boards on 45.5 percent shooting but made just 25.2 percent of his three-pointers and really struggled at the defensive end. 

Rozier, who is in a contract year and averaged 16.5 points in the 2018 Playoffs averaged just 6.4 points on 32.2 percent from the field and just 23.5 from three-point range. 

After scoring 11 points with nine rebounds on 4 for 8 shooting off the bench in Game 1, Rozier scored a total of 18 points the rest of the series making a total of six field goals in 27 chances. 

On top of that Hayward, who really showed signs of the player he was with the Utah Jazz before a major ankle injury just minutes into last season scoring in double figures in three of the four games against the Pacers had no impact in the Semis. 

After a solid performance in the Game 1 victory with 13 points and five assists off the bench had 22 points total on a dismal 7 for 29 shooting the final four games of the series. 

“I mean, truth be told there’s no time to be disappointed,” Irving said during his postgame presser. “I think that, you know, you take your lessons. You take your [expletive] whipping that they handed us and you move on.” 

It might be easy for Irving, who along with starting big man Al Horford, who can opt out of their contracts and become unrestricted free agents this summer to say this is not a time to be disappointed but the Celtics went all in two summers ago to bring in sign Hayward and trade for Irving two off-seasons ago with the thought of winning a championship. They were one game away from taking down the four-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers, led by now four-time Kia MVP of the Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James. 

In the 2018 NBA Playoffs, the Celtics won 11 games led by Brown, Tatum and Rozier, who took a major step back in production this season with the return of Irving and Hayward to action, becoming the first team in NBA history to win their first five games of a postseason then lose their final four games in succession. 

One person who for sure was disappointed is Coach Stevens, who saw his team improve it regular season win total from 25 wins to 40, 48, 53, and 55 in his first five seasons. They managed 49 wins in the 2018-19 regular season with several breaks in the chain and those breaks on full display on both ends in their five-game setback to the Bucks. 

I was especially on full display in one Bucks offensive sequence where they simply got five offensive rebounds where they just wanted to win more than the Celtics.  

“We didn’t meet the outside expectations and we really road a roller coaster a lot of the year,” Coach Stevens said. “I’ll be the first to say that this is as far as any other that I’ve been a head coach-certainly the most trying. I think I’ve did a bad job. At the end of the day like, as a coach if your team doesn’t find its best fit together that’s on you.” 

Hall of Famer and NBA on TNT studio analyst took it even further by saying on the early Thursday morning edition of “Inside the NBA” presented by Kia that there is nothing worse than having a very talented team and the unit as a whole “sucks.” 

“You kill to have a good team. And when you have a good team, and it don’t work it’s the worse feeling in the world. The Celtics have plenty of players and this was an awful year for the Celtics.” 

Kenny Smith, who won back-to-back titles with the Houston Rockets, alongside Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler added by saying that the 2018-19 Celtics did not have a belief that each person was going to do their job regardless of their circumstance. 

Shaquille O’Neal who won four titles with the Lakers and Miami Heat said that the newness of Irving and Hayward back in the fold they did not blend in with the changing dynamic of the team where Tatum, Brown, Rozier, and Marcus Smart, who missed all but the final two games of this series against the Bucks due to a torn oblique sustained on Apr. 7. 

As Smith put it, the Celtics had “reluctant participation.” 

“It wasn’t free will at all. It didn’t look free will but for short spats of the NBA season. Last year, it was free will. It was, ‘Man, that’s beautiful to watch. These guys are sacrificing for each other. Their doing everything. This year, it was reluctant participation.”

How Coach Stevens accepted responsibility for what happened to the C’s this season is a far cry from how Irving answered the question about his possible impending free agency when he said when asked that by a reporter, “I’m gonna be honest with you, I’m just trying to get back to Boston first, you know safely.” 

“Get to see my family, decompress. You know, do what human beings do.” 

What Irving has to come to grips with is he is not just a human being. He is a top-flight superstar player, who after this playoff run that ended way to soon is a talented player who has yet to grasp how to be a leader of team. He has not grasped how to blend in with a talented group of young players, who when he was on the shelf for 15 games during the regular season played well and won without him. 

There is no question that he will command top dollar on the free agent mark, as he should. That said, whether he re-signs with the Celtics this off-season, pending on if he opts out the final year of his deal or signs with another team, he has to either learn that not everyone on a team can be led in the same manner. You have to learn how to communicate and get your point across with each player.  

For the Celtics, there future is still bright, but how the organization led in the front office by Danny Ainge and by Coach Stevens moving forward and how they handle this summer will go a long way in their chances in competing for their 18^th championship in franchise history next season and beyond.

For the Bucks, they are off the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 18 years and they will play the winner of the Philadelphia 76ers versus Toronto Raptors Semifinal series that will be decided in Game 7 on Sunday. 

While many outside the state of Wisconsin still feel sideways about the Bucks possibly representing the East in the 2019 NBA Finals at the end of this month, the team is very confident that if they play their game they have as good of a chance to garner four more wins and earn their first chance of winning their first Larry O’Brien trophy in 48 years. 

“I don’t give any thought to those people,” Coach Budenholzer said about the continued thoughts of the remaining naysayers about his team’s chances of winning it all. 

Antetokounmpo added about making it to the Eastern Conference Finals, “There’s going to be a lot of people that are going to doubt us and that’s the world of basketball, and that’s the world of media.” 

“There’s going to be people that are going to be with us and there’s going to be people that are going to be against us, and don’t believe in us. But at the end of the day we realize that we’ve never been there before, but we’re really, really hungry to achieve our goals.”

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 4/14/19 1 p.m. “Indiana Pacers versus the Boston Celtics,” Game 1 of Eastern Conference First-Round on TNT with Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, and Rebecca Haarlow; 5/6/19 7 p.m. “Milwaukee Bucks versus Boston Celtics,” Game 4 Eastern Conference Semifinals on TNT, presented by AT&T with Marv Albert, Chris Webber, and Kristen Ledlow; 5/8/19 8 p.m. “Boston Celtics versus Milwaukee Bucks,” Game 5 of Eastern Conference Semifinals on TNT, presented by AT&T with Marv Albert, Chris Webber, and Kristen Ledlow; 5/9/19 1 a.m. edition of “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/gamelog/_/id/6442/kyrie-irving; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/4249/gordon-hayward; www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/gamelog/_/id/4065648/jayson-tatum; www.espn.com/nb/player/stats/gamelog/_/id/3917376/jaylen-brown; www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/gamelog/_/id/3074752/terry-rozier; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Bucks.