3 keys for Milwaukee Bucks to go home with 2-0 lead vs Boston Celtics

I have to be honest, I didn’t think the Milwaukee Bucks would actually be sitting here up 1-0 and looking to potentially steal both road games to begin the series. But that’s where we are and I’m not complaining!

The Bucks notoriously struggled in Game 1s last playoffs and even went through a nail-biter in the first round this year. They flipped the script last game with a dominant defensive performance and stole home court from the Boston Celtics.

There’s a very good chance that the Bucks could take a 2-0 lead without having played a home game, but they’ll need to do a few things right again to make that a reality.

Giannis Antetokounmpo will need to have a better scoring performance in Game 2 for the Milwaukee Bucks

I’m not going to criticize Giannis Antetokounmpo for how he played in Game 1. He was incredible at both ends, he just didn’t finish with a gaudy point total. That’s who he is though, he doesn’t need to score 30-plus points to have an impact.

However, if the Bucks want to win Game 2 and go back to Fiserv Forum with homecourt advantage, he’ll have to be better in regards to scoring.

Antetokounmpo finished Game 1 with 24 points on 40 percent true shooting. The last time he finished with under 30 points and had a true shooting under 50 percent was back on February 10th in a loss to the Phoenix Suns. It doesn’t happen often and it usually means the Bucks lost that game.

He made up for it with 12 assists that helped his teammates pick up the slack around him. Bobby Portis had 15 points, Grayson Allen had 11, and Jrue Holiday had a team-high 25. Holiday’s scoring is arguably the biggest X-factor for this series and he picked up his superstar teammate in Game 1.

You can’t count on Holiday having that kind of night again and the same can be said for Allen and Portis. They’re both great role players but role players’ scoring can swing game-to-game.

Antetokounmpo missed 14 shots inside the arc and shot 39 percent on 2s. He missed five shots right in the restricted area as well as a few bunnies just outside of there. That’s the impact Robert Williams can have around the rim and Al Horford did a solid job defending him as well.

That being said, Antetokounmpo won’t shoot this poorly again and you should expect him to come out with a much more efficient scoring performance tonight.