Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. Celtics

1. Giannis can’t guard and be guarded by Horford

This could probably apply to any team trying to stop Playoff Giannis, but even the NBA’s best defense had no answers for the Greek Freak in Game 1. Al Horford played a tremendous defensive game and bottled Giannis up on quite a few critical possessions, but the Bucks star still finished with a massive 35-13-7-3 stat line, shooting a tidy 11-for-21 from the floor while getting to the foul line 16 times.

It didn’t feel like Giannis reached his ceiling as far as dominant playoff performances are concerned, so while this may not have been the quintessential Playoff Giannis game, that actually bodes well considering the absurd numbers he put up in a relatively ho-hum performance.

That bad news is the Bucks just drained a whopping 45 minutes out of their star player in an overtime game they didn’t win. Considering how little help the supporting cast gave, Giannis could face a Sisyphean task of carrying this team in an uphill battle. He’s certainly capable, but a little help would be nice.

The easiest way to help him out, aside from putting some damn shooters around him? Interim head coach Joe Prunty needs to cut down on the Giannis-at-the-5 lineups and stop matching him up with Horford on the defensive end.

Horford’s box score numbers didn’t stack up to Antetokounmpo’s, but he was the more impactful two-way player in the series opener, finishing with 24 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals.

On quite a few occasions, he forced the Greek Freak into brutally tough shots, which may have discouraged him from attacking Horford down the stretch when fatigue and foul trouble began to set in:

Even worse, Horford was able to capitalize on the offensive end when Giannis was matched up on him, using his superior size and frame to post him up and bully him down low. His 24 points came on a mere eight field goal attempts because he got to the line 14 times, helping the Greek Freak eventually foul out with 13 seconds left.

So not only were the Celtics able to get him to log 45 minutes, but they also fouled him out down the stretch to effectively put the game away. This game plan of using Horford to make Giannis work on both ends isn’t suddenly going to change for Boston either.

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Horford’s versatility and ability to spread the floor is going to be a problem for the Bucks no matter what, but if Prunty wants his team to have a shot at a first round upset, he’s got to spare his best player from having to deal with that matchup on both ends of the court. Stick someone else on Horford and let Giannis conserve his strength for the offensive end.