Milwaukee Bucks Roundtable: Round 1 – Boston Celtics

In terms of matchup, do you feel a series with the Celtics is better or worse than the alternatives they could have faced in the East?

LW: Better because of injuries and injuries alone. The Celtics has a tremendous advantage over the Bucks in having one of the best coaches in the league in Brad Stevens.

With that said, players still play the game, and Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving are two big-time players. So, while I do not think the Celtics are a “good” matchup for the Bucks, I certainly would take a depleted Celtics squad over a team led by possibly the greatest player of all time, a red-hot Sixers team that just embarrassed Milwaukee without their best player, and the team that has dominated the East all year long and eliminated the Bucks last year.

RK: Regardless of the situation with the Bucks’ 2018 first round pick, I personally was rooting for a matchup with the Boston Celtics. Even though they have Brad Stevens at the helm, they have such little healthy talent on the roster that Milwaukee should be about evenly matched with them given the coaching discrepancy.

Any other playoff matchup surely would’ve meant that the Bucks’ season would be over after a maximum of five games. Toronto and Philadelphia have great talent and great coaching, and the Cavaliers have LeBron James.

RR: Ending up playing Boston in the first round is about best case scenario for Milwaukee. Boston’s well-noted injuries certainly put a damper on any hopes for a deep playoff run for themselves, and the Bucks can certainly play that to their advantage.

However, the Celtics aren’t completely barren of healthy talent. They still are going to be able to send out All-Star, Al Horford along with young wings, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Along with several key rotation players still available, Milwaukee definitely isn’t in for a cakewalk, given their own issues.

BS: Each series had there pros and cons and this matchup against Boston is no exception. At the end of the day, I was in favour of winning the final game against the 76ers and keeping the first round pick in this year’s draft. As it turned out, luck allowed Milwaukee to keep the pick anyway, so it’s not all bad from that point of view.

As far as Boston is concerned, they match up well against Giannis Antetokounmpo, with several guys including Al Horford able to effectively switch onto him and cause issues. They are also coached by the best coach in the league in my opinion so this will not be the easy victory I have seen many Bucks fans claim on social media.

I do however believe this is a more favorable matchup than Cleveland, Philadelphia and Toronto would have been. Toronto has been on a tear this year and I believe they are favorites to progress to the Finals from the East. Cleveland has LeBron, enough said. While Philly would have been an interesting matchup in the sense that none of their core players (except for J.J. Redick) have any meaningful playoff experience, Wednesday’s 35-point drubbing showed me enough that avoiding them in the first round was definitely a huge positive, especially with Joel Embiid set to return.

So yes, from the top four, I think Boston were the best possible scenario, in no way will this be an easy win for Milwaukee. Boston have the best coach and the best strategies for shutting down Milwaukee’s star player. It should be an excellent series!

MH: This is definitely the best matchup for the Bucks. It’s probably the only potential first-round series where the Bucks would be viewed as the more talented team. In terms of coaching, yes, Brad Stevens probably has five tricks up his sleeve for every game plan wrinkle Joe Prunty can muster throughout the series.

But, the Bucks would probably be at a tactical disadvantage against any of the other top-four seeds. Clearly the preferred opponents are the depleted Celtics.

WW: The Boston Celtics are actually a very winnable matchup for the Milwaukee Bucks.

The new-look Raptors pose a much tougher challenge having modernized their offense, making their initial struggles last year against the Bucks in the playoffs less likely to occur this year. The Cavaliers have LeBron, and while Greek god Giannis has looked up to the challenge against King LeBron, there is little doubt that LeBron still reigns supreme in the playoffs. The Bucks have found some success against the 76ers this season, but the current edition of the 76ers finishing the season on a 16-game winning streak is a fearsome beast.

The Celtics play intelligently and with discipline, but the Bucks have Giannis and the Celtics lack shot creation. The Bucks can win with their talent if they tighten their execution enough.

AM: As I’ve said many times over the last month or so, I was very much indifferent to who the Bucks’ opponent ended up being.

All four of the teams with home court in the East have flaws and the Bucks at their best have the talent to upset any one of them. Saying that, of course playing a depleted Celtics team can tip the odds a little more in Milwaukee’s favor than some of the alternatives would have.

The problem with any matchup the Bucks could have had was going to be they’d be matched up with a team who have shown an ability to win consistently. That’s what evades the Bucks. That’s the reason why they’re a seventh seed rather than a third seed. If Milwaukee can produce a perfect series, there’ll be a chance to go out on a real high, but it’d be remiss of anyone to overlook the differences in coaching, fundamentals and mindset between the two teams.

The Bucks will have a real chance, but it won’t be as easy as many would like, and probably think it will be.