After Boston’s Game 1 loss at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks — a 101-89 embarrassment on Sunday that was far worse than its final margin might indicate — I couldn’t stop thinking about how poorly the Celtics performed offensively, especially when juxtaposed with how well they played defensively. All things considered, giving up 101 points to the Bucks when Giannis Antetokounmpo plays as well as he did, and when guys are scoring as productively as Jrue Holiday and Bobby Portis were, is a win. Unfortunately, though, the Celtics played their worst offensive game in months. That’s what lost them their hard-earned homecourt advantage in a matter of 48 minutes. And that’s what has the potential to lose them a series to an undermanned opponent, defending champion or not.
Their lousy offense in Game 1 could be good news: maybe it means that the Celtics will turn it around for however long this series continues. Or, for you pessimists out there, it could be cause for a great deal of concern, a warning sign for what could be to come if the Bucks continue to bring the same sort of heat they brought on defense yesterday.
Much of what killed the Celtics in Game 1 was the fact that they failed to get anything going inside, much to the credit of Milwaukee’s swarming defense. Even when they went “small,” the Bucks had a significant size advantage, with Giannis almost always being the tallest player on the court and being able to contest any shot Boston could muster in the paint.
The same went for Brook Lopez on Sunday; he manned the area inside the arc with Garnettian poise, playing a huge part in deterring Boston’s closer shot attempts. The Celtics finished just 2-for-23 on contested two-point shots, the worst mark by any team in the postseason since 2017.
To make matters worse, they made just 10 of their 34 two-point attempts in Game 1, the second-fewest in any playoff game in NBA history (the 2017 Rockets made just nine against the Spurs). It’s…
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