The Milwaukee Bucks rested their starting lineup and key rotational pieces in the regular season finale against the Cleveland Cavaliers, they lost the game, and later that day the Boston Celtics picked up a win, earning them the second seed in the Eastern Conference. With Boston getting the two seed and Milwaukee slipping to three it led the first game of this series to be played in Boston. The home crowd was raucous and loud early and by the end of the game fans were leaving early as the Bucks won 101-89.
Let’s grade the performances that took the energy from the home crowd.
Grading Milwaukee Bucks vs. Boston Celtics Game 1: Second Unit
Second Unit: A
The second unit was again led by Grayson Allen, who didn’t rack up points in bunches like he did in several games against Chicago but was an effective 4-of-8 from the floor, including 3-of-6 behind the 3-point line for his 11 points.
Pat Connaughton didn’t light the scoreboard ablaze either but was also 50% from the field and three, making 3-of-6 and 2-of-4. Connaughton also added five rebounds.
More of the same shooting-wise from Jevon Carter, seven points on 2-of-4 shooting and 1-of-2 behind the 3-point line.
Where this group really earns their A grade is on the defensive end. All three of these players did a fantastic job of getting over screens when guarding Boston’s perimeter players. Grayson Allen played hounding defense on Marcus Smart whenever he was assigned to him and Grayson finished this contest with three steals. Jevon Carter despite scoring just seven points and grabbing one rebound and one steal finished +25, the highest on the team! His on-ball defense late in the game on Jaylen Brown was absolute lockdown, not even letting the Celtics star get so much as a contested jump shot off.