With seven games left and 6 teams fighting for 3 playoff spots, every win and loss is magnified. A loss like tonight’s is especially painful considering the Celtics came out hot, held a double-digit lead, and led at the half.
But a disastrous start to the 3rd quarter, some generally sloppy play by the Celtics in the second half, and some shoddy officiating all led to the Celtics dropping a crucial game against the 6th seed Bucks.
This season’s Red Auerbach award winner, Avery Bradley, came storming out of the gate with 9 points in the first 5 minutes of the game and helping fuel an early 9 point Celtics lead. The much-maligned Celtics starters actually did well off the bat, and it was the second unit that gave up the lead. The Bucks bench shot 5 of 7 in the first to briefly take a 1 point lead. But Isaiah Thomas got fouled taking a 3, and his 3 free throws helped the C’s go into the quarter break up 4.
The Celtics pushed it to 6 but the Bucks spent the 2nd quarter picking on Isaiah Thomas defensively, constantly posting up OJ Mayo on him and forcing the Celtics to react. Mayo was 4 of 5 for 10 points before the Celtics sent Evan Turner back in for Thomas. By then, the Bucks had gotten the lead back, but the Celtics countered with a 10-0 run. OJ Mayo and his magic hair helped the Bucks counter the counter to tied the game, but the Celtics took a 2 point lead into the half. Mayo shot 8-10 in the first half for 20 points.
The Bucks came out of the half blazing hot, going on a 17-4 run to take an 11 point lead. The lead got up to 16 and it looked like things were getting out of control, but then Jonas Jerebko got hot and scored 7 quick points to keep the Celtics within striking distance. The Celtics 2 point halftime lead became an 11 point Bucks lead… and believe me this team was lucky to be only down 11.
The Celtics came out in the 4th just as hot as Milwaukee came out in the 3rd, cutting the lead down to 4. The Celtics went zone to protect Isaiah Thomas on the defensive end and it worked for a little while. But that was about all the Celtics had in the quarter. They turned it over 7 times, which was very uncharacteristic of this team during this run. And let’s just say the refs were less than perfect in this game. I understand missed calls, but they blew some blatantly obvious calls. A carry against Giannis Antentokounmpo where he literally stopped dribbling and then restarted, and a Carter-Williams foul on Jerebko where he had all forearm but it was called out of bounds are the most glaring calls that come to mind.
Regardless, this was a disappointing loss. This really hurts. The Celtics will remain on the outside looking in in the playoff chase.
The Green
Isaiah Thomas had 23 points in 26 minutes, looking like himself for the first time since he returned from injury.
Jonas Jerebko lit it up in the second half. His 17 points tied Bradley in 13 fewer minutes.
Bradley’s hot start fueled the Celtics…. though he was 3-10 after his opening flurry.
The Gross
Marcus Smart was largely ineffective. 2 points, no steals, 3 turnovers, and a -16 on the night.
Brooklyn won tonight, So they’re now up a game and a half and in the 7th spot. Miami is in 8th, a half game ahead of Boston, but because they own the tie breaker, they’re essentially also a game and a half up. Worst-case scenario came through tonight.
The Greenlights
Beauty of an out of bounds play by Stevens
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Zeller’s big block
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The Grid
- Points in the paint: Milwaukee 62-48
- Celtics scored 14 points off 18 Bucks turnovers. Bucks scored 19 points off 17 Celtics turnovers.
- Jared Sullinger – 3:12 played, 0-2 fg (0-1 3pt), 3 reb.
Big missed opportunity for the Celtics. A loss tomorrow night would be devastating.
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