The Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics will enter into Game 2 of their series on Tuesday night, with the Bucks desperate to ensure a split heading home.
After an immensely exciting Game 1 clash that required more than 48 minutes to separate the teams on Sunday, the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics return to action for Game 2 on Tuesday.
As the teams prepare to take to the court again, big questions will remain over how both teams will react to that game, or more particularly in Milwaukee’s case, how they’ve managed to come to terms with the outcome in the day since.
While the Bucks have some positives to take from that game and can feel grateful for getting to overtime to begin with, there was almost certainly some kind of comedown when the realization set in that the phenomenal finish to regulation was ultimately all for nothing.
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The Bucks may well come out fired up and freshly motivated by any perceived injustices from that series opener, but it’s also in play that the way the game played out may have damaged the Bucks’ psyche, while inflating the Celtics’ already formidable sense of self-belief.
In a game that will likely be packed with a host of fascinating matchups and noteworthy adjustments in approach from both teams, there’ll also be a mental battle of sorts worth keeping track of.
Playoff basketball brings an entirely different range of variables into play, and Tuesday’s matchup should act as perfect evidence of that.
With all of that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the action ahead, and see which team can prevail in Game 2.