Behind the Bucks Pass
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Milwaukee Bucks: Analyzing Eric Bledsoe/Terry Rozier matchup

By Jordan Treske

BOSTON, MA - December 4: (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - December 4: (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – December 4: Eric Bledsoe #6 of the Milwaukee Bucks gets introduced before the game against the Boston Celtics on December 4, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – December 4: Eric Bledsoe #6 of the Milwaukee Bucks gets introduced before the game against the Boston Celtics on December 4, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /

With their first round playoff series set, we look at the positional battle between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics, starting with the projected starting point guards.

As the first round matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics looms closer and closer, there may be no single advantage the Bucks hold over the Celtics more than at the point guard position, at least on paper.

Entering this season, one of the Bucks’ biggest weaknesses was that they sorely lacked a dynamic, change of pace point guard who could shoulder some of the gargantuan workload that had been heaped upon the team’s leading superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Then mere weeks into the season, they addressed the issue by trading for guard Eric Bledsoe, who’s disgruntlement with the Phoenix Suns had reached a point of no return three games into the year.

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The Celtics know a thing or two about trading for point guards who are looking for a new challenge as they traded for All-Star guard Kyrie Irving in a blockbuster deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers in mid-August of last year.

While both teams’ seasons have unfolded to varying levels of success, their respective big acquisitions have been exactly as advertised to this point in time.

After a few years of languishing in the desert, Bledsoe has helped fortify the top end of the Bucks’ foundation by forming a productive trio between him, Antetokounmpo and the well-rounded Khris Middleton, which has been one of the few constants throughout an uneven season.

As for Irving, being the leading star for a Celtics team that had taken a big hit with the injury to Gordon Hayward on the opening night of the regular season naturally made him a fringe MVP candidate, considering his and the team’s wildly successful season.

But with Irving officially being lost for the rest of the Celtics’ season after undergoing two knee surgeries to clean up complications that stemmed from a left knee fracture he suffered during the 2015 NBA Finals, the Celtics are relying on third-year guard Terry Rozier to take on the starting point guard mantle in the wake of Irving’s injury.

It may be big shoes to fill, but Rozier has opened up some eyes with the steady growth he’s displayed this year alone and especially since permanently taken over Irving’s spot in the Celtics’ starting lineup nearly a month ago.

With all of that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at how the two players compare and contrast.

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