Welp, that didn’t go as we had hoped. Although the Bucks were riding a massive wave of momentum heading into this one, the Boston Celtics would come in and steal a Game 1 victory, 112-90.
Despite the intense playoff atmosphere that was generated at the opening tip, Boston did a terrific job of mitigating it and coming out with a strong first punch. Thanks to a cold shooting spell from the Bucks (5-of-19), the Celtics would leap out to a 26-17 advantage after one.
But these are the Milwaukee Bucks, folks. They don’t have a consecutive string of bad quarters. Midway through the second period, they’d go on their run — and it was without Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee would go on a 15-0 rampage, coming all the way back to knot it all up at 40 apiece. Heading into halftime, the Celtics maintained a 52-50 lead.
Unfortunately, all the effort the Bucks would spend to scratch and crawl their way back into this one would be for naught. Boston would explode for a massive run, catapulting themselves into a 17 point lead going into the final quarter of play.
There was definitely optimism that the Bucks could go on one final run to make it close, but it wasn’t in the cards this afternoon. Boston proved to be too strong. It seemed as if Boston would either contest every Milwaukee shot or immediately answer on the other end. Just a rough day in nearly every category for the Bucks.
Giannis would lead the Bucks with 22 points. Kyrie Irving was the lead man for Boston, tallying 26 points on 12-of-21 shooting.
Stat That Stood Out
Coming into this series, one of the storylines was how the Celtics would contain Giannis Antetokounmpo. Many people said they simply wouldn’t be able to due to his ferociousness in the open court. Unfortunately today, that wasn’t the case. Brad Stevens’ defensive gameplan worked masterfully. Every time Antetokounmpo would get anywhere near the rim, a wall of Celtics would be there to greet him. After the third, he’d be just 4-of-13 from the floor. How crazy would the defensive effort be from Boston? Giannis would have just one more made two-pointer than made 3-pointers. In the end, you just have to tip your cap to Stevens, Horford, and the rest of the Celtics and cross your fingers that Budenholzer rolls out proper adjustments for Game 2.