Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from surprising Game 1 loss vs. Celtics
By Ryan Piers
A surprisingly dominant performance by the Boston Celtics sent the Milwaukee Bucks back to the drawing board. Here are three takeaways from the Game 1.
With the Milwaukee Bucks down by two points early in the second half in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics, MVP frontrunner Giannis Antetokounmpo fiercely dribbled to the basket. On most nightsm he’d finish the play with a ferocious dunk. But on most nights, he’s not facing Al Horford.
The sturdy big man firmly held his ground, altering The Greek Freak’s usually casual layup. Giannis missed. The Celtics went on a 8-0 run. Milwaukee trailed the rest of the way.
Horford, who is maybe his generation’s most underappreciated player, put his fingerprints all over this game. He scored 20 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and was a menace in the post. Kyrie Irving scored 26 points while dishing 11 assists.
Antetokounmpo struggled to reach 22 points on 21 shots. Khris Middleton went cold after a strong first quarter. Milwaukee was outscored by 20 points in the second half of its 112-90 point loss.
The Bucks shot 34.8 percent while Boston hit 54.0 percent of its field goal attempts. That’s the tell-all stat, but there is a lot more to this statement victory from Boston. Here are three takeaways for the Bucks.