Milwaukee Bucks Roundtable: Round 1 – Boston Celtics
By Adam McGee
How do you think the series will unfold, and what’s your final prediction?
LW: I think the Bucks will push the Celtics to the brink of elimination. The Celtics are seriously depleted, and I don’t expect them to go very far in the playoffs. I do think they sneak past the Bucks in seven games, though.
The Bucks are just too out of sync and schematically confused to beat a team that plays with intelligence, conviction, and a plan, even if they are the more talented team.
RK: Even though they have disappointed me time after time, I still believe in this Milwaukee Bucks team. Playoff Giannis came close to winning a series against an extremely talented Raptors team last season, so it’s not difficult to see how an even better Playoff Giannis could easily handle a depleted Celtics team.
In the NBA playoffs, talent wins, and the Bucks have the best player in the series and it’s not even close. For my prediction, I’m going to take inspiration from the player the Bucks signed from the G-League on March 11th and say Bucks in 6.
RR: As far as playoff teams in the Eastern Conference go, Milwaukee is one of the more inconsistent and confusing. We watched them get humiliated in Philadelphia in the final game of the regular season, and it’s hard to imagine one of the games in this series won’t get away from them early.
If Milwaukee has any hope in this series, they are going to need to play well and get their wins at home. Stealing a game at the Garden is unlikely, but possible. Unfortunately, I do not see this series playing out that way. I expect the Bucks’ season will die how it lived. Frustratingly. My prediction is Boston taking the series in six games.
BS: Bucks in 6. Sorry I had to. I genuinely think this series could go either way and would not at all be surprised if the Bucks get swept in four. But if the Bucks are to win, it will have to be in six, claiming victory in their last home game of the series.
I believe the Celtics will likely win at least one of their first two home games. Likewise, the Bucks will win at least one of their first two home games, likely squaring the series at 2-2. From there, the Bucks need to win Game 5 on the road and close it out in Game 6 at home to win 4-2. The cheers from the crowd as Brandon Jennings dribbles out time in a Game 6 victory will be enough to send shivers down the spines of all die-hard Bucks fans. Bucks in 6 always. It’s for the culture.
MH: Couldn’t have said it better myself, Ben.
WW: Celtics in 6. My rational mind actually says the Bucks will win this series. But it’s just too hard to trust the Bucks to pull out enough wins over the course of the series. We saw it last year when the Bucks saw strong initial success against the Raptors, but once the Raptors made the necessary adjustments, the Bucks were unable to sustain their success.
The playoffs are indeed a different and greater beast. Giannis will be a different and greater beast. Other individuals may step up. But the Bucks as a team will be a frustrating and limited beast with the same fatal flaws.
The Celtics will out-execute them and hone in on those fatal flaws, understanding how to apply pressure to the Bucks’ weakside to create and hit open threes, and protecting the paint just enough to stagnate the Bucks’ offense just enough.
AM: I think the games will be close and I think Milwaukee’s players will really want this series, but I think over the course of a series all of their smaller weaknesses could total up to one larger issue.
Boston’s injuries have done nothing to detract from their stellar defense. If anything, you could argue Terry Rozier makes them better in that department than Kyrie Irving does. The other side of the court is everyone’s primary focus in advance of the series, where the question seems to be: How are the Celtics going to score enough points?
If Boston was matched up with an outstanding defensive team, they’d be doomed. Instead, they’re matched up with a team that has only held opponents below 100 points twice in their 25 games since the All-Star break. If 10 days earlier the Brooklyn Nets were able to score 115 points against Milwaukee, why can’t the Celtics?
The flaws that have plagued the Bucks all season are unlikely to disappear over night. I can’t remember the last time the Bucks put four consistently good quarters together, so it’s tough to imagine them all of a sudden putting it all together for a concerted stretch of games.
Milwaukee’s talent will keep them close, but if they can’t find significant improvements in the areas that continue to cost them most of all, it’s likely they’ll be on the wrong side of the final score.
I’m hoping and dreaming of a Bucks series win that can inspire the players and the fans, and send the Bradley Center out in style, but I’ve watched too much of this team over the past few years to have any confidence that it will happen. I think the Celtics will take it in five games, and a new, more positive era for the Bucks will have to wait to begin next season.
Next: Win In 6 Podcast #201: Final thoughts ahead of Game 1
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