For tonight’s TNT doubleheader starting at 8:15 p.m. ET, the first of two games will feature two of the top three teams in the Eastern conference going at it for four quarters for the second time this season as the Boston Celtics take a trip up north to do battle with the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in what may be the premier matchup of the week.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Bucks won’t forget the last time they went to war with the boys from Beantown, losing via a second-half collapse on October 30, in which Boston held the at-the-time best 3-point shooting team in the NBA (percentage-wise) to a season-low 31.5 percent, only dropping a combined 14 threes through two halves against this new-age Celtics squad still compact with talent ranging from all spots on the floor.
Even without Jaylen Brown, Boston found a way to counter the overwhelming height and wingspan of the Bucks back then with a massive 3rd quarter from the likes of the offensively-expanding skillset of a Jayson Tatum, who took enjoyment in drilling a stepback three at the top of the key right in the face of Khris Middleton and smacking Paul Pierce’s hand in jubilation after.
Kemba Walker finally got over his scoring slump that night as well, dropping 32 points in the Celtics’ 3rd win of the year in one of the stepping stones to their lengthy winning streak that lasted weeks, regardless of the team’s overall health deteriorating as they would go on to lose Gordon Hayward for nearly a month with a broken bone in his left hand. Yet as the season progressed, it looked and felt as if Milwaukee’s trajectory was on more of a climb than Boston’s.
Yes – the Celtics still own the third-best home record in the league with only four losses coming on the parquet, but that obviously isn’t applicable with their just “acceptable” 11-8 road record. What hurt’s Boston’s chances in being determined as a sportsbook favorite in tonight’s Eastern clash is that they’re still not at 100 percent and while that’s not completely unavoidable since this league becomes such a battle of attrition at this time of the year, Brad Stevens might be tasked with having to coach around the absence of Brown again who is, statistically, the team’s second-best defender behind his frontcourt cohort Jayson Tatum.
He sprained his thumb in a rare home loss to the talent-inept Pistons after dropping 24 points off 10-16 shooting, and his offensive input per contest is what has helped propel the C’s up to the conversation of the league’s most intimidating teams. Brown has averaged 20 points per game off 49 percent shooting and a solid 40 percent 3-point percentage, and without him, the Celtics are to rely (again) on the hot-and-cold scoring ability of Tatum who is putting up around 21 points a game off 42 percent shooting.
A few things to be examined in tonight’s Eastern showdown will be if, A) – the Bucks don’t brick away their free chances from behind the arc, like how they did the last time they faced the Celtics and, B) – how do the Celtics pack the paint, stop a team that’s leading the league in overall scoring margin, match their length, and prevent them from getting to the cup with ease behind current MVP and award candidate for this year’s selection in Antetokounmpo?
These questions and more are going to get answered succinctly in tonight’s TNT battle, tipping off at 8:15 p.m. ET.
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