Tonight was a night of runs between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. Not the type you get on the toilet, though that’s how it looked from the get-go of every quarter shooting-wise for Boston. Both teams fought tooth and nail at TD Garden and with some clutch baskets from the Bucks’ youngsters, Milwaukee was able to steal one on the road, 103-100.
The Game Flow
On the second night of a back-to-back road trip, the Bucks, thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo (yes, I spell checked that) , stampeded their way to a 10-2 run straight from tip-off. Boston began the game shooting a porous 1-7 from the field. Kris Middleton played the sidekick role to Giannis in the quarter off a slew of open jumpers, scoring eight points. The Celtics countered with a 15-4 run of their own by spreading the ball to finally make things interesting as both team are knotted up at 24 a piece.
The early quarter drought trend continued for Boston as they failed to score until the 8:10 mark. Milwaukee took advantage of this opportunity with another 10-3 spurt to start the second period. Sitting at 5th in the league converting points off turnovers, the Bucks forced the C’s to commit 11 turnovers, something Brad Stevens can’t afford with Giannis leading the transition. Boston found themselves down as much as 15 points, but Isaiah Thomas assisted in trimming the deficit to 55-49 heading into halftime with 20 points.
Despite a confident start shooting for Giannis, The Greek Freak forced numerous unwarranted three pointers and heavily guarded layups in traffic from as many as four Boston defenders. Stevens called set plays for both Al Horford and Amir Johnson early on having the stronger front court. The C’s crashed the glass offensively, creating countless second chance opportunities and with back-to-back offensive rebounds by Marcus Smart, Crowder took the 72-70 lead on a layup. Milwaukee countered with a 10-5 run and stole the quarter with a 80-77 lead.
A game that has entirely been made of scoring runs by both teams, Milwaukee again won the first three minutes of the period with a 8-3 run. Even Jason Terry, the sputtering jet, was able to find his way into the paint and score on a floater. Like clockwork, IT broke Antoine Walker’s franchise record of 222 three pointers made in a season with his 5th of the game, none more clutch than this one. On that note, enter Smart and his late game heroics with a clutch layup to notch the game even at 93. Malcolm Brogdon, the sleeper for the Rookie of the Year award, was responsible for four straight buckets, including a slick assist to Giannis for an emphatic slam. Al Horford, who was tremendous for the most part against Giannis on defense, forced him to commit a 24 second shot clock violation. IT scored a quick layup to get the two-for-one opportunity and with 3.9 seconds remaining on the clock up by one point, Brogdon showed his stones on a prayer to beat the shot clock from mid range to extend the lead to three points for the Bucks. Smart attempted to create contact to tie the game at 103, instead air-balled it over the backboard to end the game.
The ending to the game was executed horribly. The inbounds pass was ill-advised and Thomas was completely covered, forcing Smart to chuck up a three. Smart attempted to draw the contact, key word “attempted”, and ended chucking up a double-pump three pointer. If Boston is going to get anywhere in the playoffs, they have to perform efficiently in crunch time.
Marcus Smart’s relentless effort on the offensive glass. Smart channeled in his inner Gronk and seemingly physically abused his way to fetch the rebound. Big man or not, Smart knows how to use his size and strength to his advantage. He finished leading the team in rebounds with 11, five of them coming offensively.
Another game, another crazy highlight from IT as he’s able to draw the contact from Brogdon and hit the and-one floater. Thomas has an incredible control of the ball mid-air which bodes well for his stature.
IT drops in the floater… And one! https://t.co/1VBPDEDfxU
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 30, 2017
The Grid
Isaiah Thomas: 32 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 22 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks
Malcolm Brogdon: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
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