The Boston Celtics were eliminated from the 2019 NBA Playoffs by the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5. Here are three takeaways from their final game of the season.
The Boston Celtics‘ 2018-19 season, often tumultuous, drama-filled and joyless, has mercifully come to an end. The Milwaukee Bucks took care of business after dropping Game 1 at home in jarring fashion, winning the next four games in the series by a combined 55 points.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was the best player on the floor throughout the series, which should come as no surprise for a player who’s likely to win the league’s MVP award. Giannis averaged 28.4 points per game in the conference semifinals, far and away outclassing Kyrie Irving‘s 20.4 points per contest.
Irving, in fact, put together what will likely go down as the worst playoff series of his career. Despite averaging over 20 points, his scoring efficiency was atrocious, as he posted .356/.219/.913 shooting splits for the five-game series.
Had the Celtics not gotten an untimely and uncharacteristic cold stretch out of their All-Star, perhaps the series would have gone differently. Unfortunately, the team as a whole found itself cold at the wrong time.
The Bucks, on the other hand, continued to score at an efficient clip, with a team true shooting percentage of 54.9. They also posted the highest defensive rating among second round teams at 99.2, which was certainly helped by the Celtics’ miserable shooting, but impressive nevertheless.
These are three takeaways from the Celtics season-ending loss in Game 5.