Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 121-119 win over Boston Celtics

The Milwaukee Bucks extended their winning streak to eight games Wednesday night with a thrilling 121-119 win over the Boston Celtics.

It was far from their best team performance of the season as they managed to survive despite blowing what had been a comfortable 25-point lead midway through the third quarter. It would have been a loss for the Bucks had Boston’s Daniel Theis knocked down a wide-open triple in the corner at the final buzzer, but they caught a break as it was just off.

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Despite its almost devastating conclusion, a win is a win, and the Bucks are rolling. Winners in 13 of their last 14 games, this team moves to 29-14 on the season, continuing their excellent stretch of basketball following the All-Star break.

The Bucks will aim to make it 30 wins and take the lead in the season series with Boston in another star-studded rematch Friday night. Last night’s game is certainly one that the city of Milwaukee would like to put in the rearview quickly, but there were some positives to take away.

With that being said, here are three takeaways from Milwaukee’s nail-biting win over the Boston Celtics.

Milwaukee Bucks look uncharacteristic on defense all night in win over Celtics

Although Milwaukee’s defensive stature has regressed this season, they undoubtedly have the personnel to be a formidable unit on that side of the ball. However, Boston exploited several areas of the defense that are typically among the Bucks’ strong suits.

The first would certainly be the fast break scoring, where the Bucks entered last night ranked first in the league by allowing their opponents to score just 9.5 points per game, per NBA.com/stats. Being able to get back on defense in a hurry has been a strength for Milwaukee this season, but that was nowhere to be found as Boston racked up an astounding 26 points on the break last night. The Celtics’ ability to capitalize on those transition opportunities helped them inch back into the game, and the Bucks had no answer.

Similarly, the Celtics took advantage of second-chance opportunities in this one by finishing with 16 points in such scenarios. Typically letting up just 11.8 fast break points per game heading into this one, the Bucks certainly let Boston hang around with several extra chances to put points on the scoreboard, which ultimately nearly came back to haunt them in the closing seconds.

Milwaukee is still trying to put the pieces together on the defensive end, and last night’s mishaps can undoubtedly serve as a learning experience. With another look at this team Friday, the Bucks must emphasize keeping Boston in check in these areas.