Milwaukee Bucks: 3 big things to watch for against Boston Celtics

How will the Milwaukee Bucks defend Boston Celtics star, Jayson Tatum?

Seeing as the Celtics will be without one of their two star wings, the large share of the defensive attention will shift to Jayson Tatum. By his standards, Tatum is not having his best start to the 2021-22 season.

The 23-year-old is averaging 23.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. The rebound number would be a career-high while the assist numbers are down from last season. Scoring over 23 points per game is very good, but not when you are also posting a 44.7 percent effective field goal percentage and a 48.3 percent true shooting percentage. Both would easily be career-lows for Tatum.

Still, he is more than capable of big scoring nights and taking over a game to help lead his team to a victory. The Bucks will also be without Khris Middleton, who would normally see a large share of the defensive assignment on Tatum. Instead, you’ll likely see a combination of Holiday, Pat Connaughton, and Semi Ojeleye mixing in to give him some different looks.

There are other players on the Celtics that can, of course, hurt the Bucks too. Horford, Williams, and Dennis Schroder are all averaging double-digit points per game and can capably fill in around the gaps to provide support to Tatum if he’s not got his shot going.

That’s also not mentioning the streaky shooting from Marcus Smart who can get hot from deep in random games to fill in as well. The Celtics may not have their two stars, but they have many other solid players who can get going as well.