Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from Game 2 rout vs. Celtics

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo gets help from supporting cast

To be honest, Antetokounmpo didn’t have a great outing in Game 1. Sure, he scored 22 points, but the Celtics’ defense limited him to just 7-for-21 shooting from the field. While Khris Middleton did chip in with 16 points on 12 attempts, the duo of Brook Lopez (three points) and Eric Bledsoe (six points) totaled just nine points and they combined for a 2-for-10 showing from the field.

In Game 2, however, the Bucks turned this trend around as well. Antetokounmpo led the way with 29 points (15 in third quarter) and pulled down 10 rebounds. Although the Celtics were determined not to allow the MVP candidate to get to the rim at will, he continued to play aggressive and was rewarded with 18 attempts from the charity stripe. He knocked down 13 of them.

Meanwhile, Lopez reached double figures, scoring 10 points to go along with four rebounds. Bledsoe had a nice bounce-back game with 21 points, five assists, three rebounds and was a +21.

One of the key performances of the night should go to Middleton. He scored 28 points on an efficient 10-for-18 shooting from the field. Furthermore, he accounted for nearly half of Milwaukee’s makes from distance, knocking down seven of his 10 attempts.

"“We have to do a better job on him,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens told the Boston Globe. “We did not do a good enough job on him all the way down the line. He still might make it, but he got too many looks where it was just too open.”"

In the first round series between these two clubs last season, Middleton shot 25-for-41 from beyond the arc. Through the first two games of this series, he has connected on 10 of his 14 attempts from downtown.

Simply put, he has been a thorn in Boston’s side.

Now that the Bucks’ top scorers have showed up, it will be interesting to see if they can continue to be effective as the series progresses.