Milwaukee Bucks: Analyzing Eric Bledsoe vs. Kyrie Irving

Who will win the matchup?

So after all of that, who has the edge in what should be a hotly-contested matchup?

This Bucks-Celtics series is looking like it’s going to be a knock-down, drag-out, war between perhaps the two best teams in the conference. I would be shocked if this doesn’t go to at least six games, and it seems likely we’re headed for a seven-game series.

The line between winning and losing a seven-game series, as both teams can attest to after last season, is razor-thin. If the Bucks are going to advance in the series, they’ll absolutely need strong play from Bledsoe, and the same goes for Irving and the Celtics.

In the end, though, I’m going to choose Bledsoe to get the better of this matchup. When I say that Bledsoe will win his battle with Irving, I’m not specifically talking about outscoring Irving or shutting him down defensively, because that’s almost definitely not going to happen.

In order to win this matchup, Bledsoe just has to contain and frustrate Irving over the entire series. Irving is going to get his, there’s not a guard in the league today that can keep him down for an entire series. He might even have a game where he goes off for 40, he could do that against any team in the league.

Bledsoe just has to make him work for every shot over the entire series. If he can hold Irving to around 20 points per game on sub-40 percent shooting from the field over the entire series, he’d have done his job.

On offense, Bledsoe just has to do what he’s done all season: attack the paint, be aggressive in transition and set-up his teammates. He doesn’t need to average 20 points per game, but if he just sticks with his season average of 15 per game on 48 percent shooting from the field and around five assists per game, that should be good enough.

It may seem a little unfair to say that Bledsoe will win the matchup even though Irving may outproduce him, but Bledsoe and Irving hold different roles on their teams. Irving is the de facto leader and top scorer, while Bledsoe’s value is in his defense, playmaking and supplemental offense.

After last season’s abysmal playoffs, Bledsoe has been redeeming himself all season. I think Bledsoe has something to prove and if he stays focused and doesn’t get rattled by the Boston crowd or drawn into antics with Rozier or Irving, I’m confident he’ll be the two-way stud he’s been for the Bucks all season.

If the Bucks take this series against Boston, as I predict, Bledsoe will be one of the main reasons why.

The Bucks and Celtics kick off their series this Sunday at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee at noon CT.