Bucks vs. Celtics: Better, but not better enough 

Execution was improved, but Milwaukee still has a ways to go 

After very poor performances against Chicago and Brooklyn, Milwaukee came into TD Garden on the second night of a back-to-back and ran out of gas, losing 118-109 to Boston. The Bucks gave the reigning champs a game for two and a half quarters, even leading at half time. But the Celtics ran away with the game behind a spread of scorers, including Jaylen Brown (30) and noted Bucks killer Payton Pritchard (28). For Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard combined for 63, but couldn’t get enough help from their supporting cast. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.

What Did We Learn?

One of the positives that came out of tonight, I thought, was a concerted effort to move bodies and the ball. It felt like there were less one-pass or no-pass possessions than in previous nights. Giannis wasn’t perfect by any means, but he did seem more proactive in setting transition screens (and re-screens), which made the offence look oceans better than it had previously. This was evident for the first two and a half quarters but faded late, which coincided with Boston taking control of the game. Damian Lillard credited this ball movement as the reason they hung in for most of the game.

“I think when we’re moving the ball, trusting our offence and the actions, letting it develop… teams have to make decisions, and you’re putting them in vulnerable positions the way teams have done to us.”

“The play to be made reveals itself when you play that way and you trust, and when you don’t, it’s easier on the defence. That’s what leads to turnovers, tough shots, and low-quality possessions.”

“A team like [Boston], they feed off of that… so during that stretch, we just kind of played into their hands.”

The stretch in question coincided with Bobby Portis checking into the game and getting his patented post-ups on the left block… where the offence sort of just stopped. Why not stick with what was working? Doc was asked after the game about if he felt differently about Portis post-ups when Giannis and Dame are in the game, and he replied no, he didn’t.

“I just thought Bobby got sped up tonight… he got into it with somebody… he has those games every once in a while. I love him because he’s emotional, but there are nights where that can get the better of him.”

Maybe Rivers was protecting Portis here? But it seemed obvious that they went away from what had been working when he checked in. Let’s hope the team can keep building on that first half.

Three Bucks

Giannis’ turnover troubles are getting worse.

Although he has posted big numbers through four games, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been on a turnover binge. After last night’s seven(!) turnovers, Antetokounmpo is now up to a total of fifteen for the season. It felt clear that someone had told him he was trying to do too much in the previous three games, and this game felt better, to his credit. But he’s got to get a handle on these turnovers. As The Athletic’s Eric Nehm points out, many of these came on post-ups where he needed to slow down and execute a plan.

Lopez made an impact on the inside.

Known as a pick-and-pop big these days, Brook Lopez was able to find some good synergy with Giannis sealing his man down low last night. We know Boston plays small with basically four guard/wings and a centre (who will guard Giannis), which means Lopez will usually have a significant size mismatch against his opponent. Brook was 5/10 from two-point range, despite being 0/4 from three. Sometimes we forget how huge Brook is, and that he used to play this role in his hay day.

The Connaughton enthusiasm might have been fool’s gold.

After a nice opening game from Pat Connaughton that had some fans reconsidering their PC stances, these last three games he has shot 3/11 from the field and 3/9 from three. He made his only attempt last night. In this season’s Brew Hoop roundtable, I selcted Connaughton as my “Buck who will regress the most,” and that prediction is looking pretty good right now, unfortunately. Look, PC will always be doing his classic connector things. The question is if he is doing any of those skills at a high enough level to warrant him being out there. Or is it more useful to skew more towards shooting (AJ Green) or defence (Andre Jackson Jr.)?

Bonus Bucks Bits

• Spoiler alert: I have a piece on Giannis and how his game must change coming out at some point soon. In it, I criticise Giannis and his apparent lack of want to screen and make more contact. He was better last night:

• To the point above, the Bucks need to generate more three-point attempts to win. It’s a math problem now, and Giannis can massively help here by committing to being a short-roll playmaker à la Draymond Green:

• Yeah, Bucks fans are hurting right now, judging by the Twitter timeline (including our friend, Mitchell):

Up Next

No rest for the wicked. Milwaukee travel to Memphis to face the Grizzlies on Thursday night at 7:00 PM Central on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.

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