Celtics (52-24) at Bucks (55-21) Game #77 3/29/23

[scaryjerry]

Great performance, unfortunately can’t really take much from it. Could very easily just be extra motivation for the bucks come the playoffs.

[BMark]

Great performance, unfortunately can’t really take much from it. Could very easily just be extra motivation for the bucks come the playoffs.

What we can look at is the season series with Mil.  The Cs slaughtered the Bucks in Boston, then took the Bucks to overtime in Mil without several starters and blew them out yesterday.  The Bucks will have fits trying to defend our wings in the playoffs, and the Cs once again showed how to set up an effective wall against Giannis' direct drives to the basket.

[ozgod]

Great performance, unfortunately can’t really take much from it. Could very easily just be extra motivation for the bucks come the playoffs.

Can’t take much from the Wizards game as well. Clearly a one off.

[Phantom255x]

Great performance, unfortunately can’t really take much from it. Could very easily just be extra motivation for the bucks come the playoffs.

I highly doubt this would be said if MIL blew us out 

[Vermont Green]

Great performance, unfortunately can’t really take much from it. Could very easily just be extra motivation for the bucks come the playoffs.

I highly doubt this would be said if MIL blew us out 

Exactly.  I think there are things you can take from the game.  For one, the Celtics are a very mercurial team.  They go from looking horrible in a game vs. WAS to looking unstoppable vs. MIL in MIL.  I think the real Celtics are much closer to the good version than the bad but this still worries me.  We can't have lazy games in the playoffs.

The other thing I saw is a Bucks team that is a little worn down and didn't respond well to a back to back.  They added some reinforcements along the way (Crowder for example), but they still look to me like a team that could wear down in the playoffs.  Of course there won't be back to backs in the playoffs.  I still see them as a very good team though.  If it comes to it, I expect a BOS-MIL series to be tough, this game won't matter at that point.

[RMO]

I couldn't watch past the first quarter.  I'm just curious.  When did Middleton leave?  Was the game already pretty lopsided when he did?

[Donoghus]

I couldn't watch past the first quarter.  I'm just curious.  When did Middleton leave?  Was the game already pretty lopsided when he did?

Yeah, Celtics were up 34 when it occurred.

[footey]

Key was our ability to neutralize Giannis.

Shooting will come and go but if we can defend like that in playoffs I like our chances.

[Phantom255x]

Key was our ability to neutralize Giannis.

Shooting will come and go but if we can defend like that in playoffs I like our chances.

The defense they've played in recent games against Sacramento and Milwaukee (on the road both times btw), if they could just do that more consistently they'd be unstoppable. They are certainly capable of doing it. Just a shame they've been inconsistent on that end though. But getting Timelord back has certainly made a difference too.

[slamtheking]

I couldn't watch past the first quarter.  I'm just curious.  When did Middleton leave?  Was the game already pretty lopsided when he did?

Yeah, Celtics were up 34 when it occurred.

but..but...but...if he came back, he'd have led them to victory because he puts Milwaukee over the top against us -- at least that's what another poster said 

[SHAQATTACK]

Giannias got his clown of a brother a lifetime contract in Milwaukee. Probably a stipulation of him resigning there

I didn't realize but Thanasis is 30 years old. Like he's been in the league for almost a decade and done nothing

WOW …This must be why Gianniis doesn’t play for Lakers .   Sounds like something LA would do to secure a super star . 

[celticsclay]

Holiday, 51 points last night on 30 attempts.  Wow.  I hope his arms are tired.

Holiday, 2-8, 6 points, I guess he was tired.  The whole team was tired from the looks of things.  Back to backs in the NBA are tough, it was an advantage for the Celtics, but this win was about more than just that.  The Celtics played great.  Really showed what they can do.  Now the Celtics have to prove that they can be that team when it really counts, in the playoffs.

You can't waste games in the playoffs (like we have in the regular season).  Every extra game you play, you are that much more worn down and it may come back to bite you in a game in the next round.  If you take say 6 games to beat ATL instead of 5, because you got lazy in a game, that can start to add up.  Maybe you are a little more tired in a game against PHI in the next round.   People are nursing injuries.  Every day of rest is important.

Do people realize that historically a back to back results in a team performing 1.5 to 2 points worse on the second night. It’s not some massive disadvantage….

[Vermont Green]

Holiday, 51 points last night on 30 attempts.  Wow.  I hope his arms are tired.

Holiday, 2-8, 6 points, I guess he was tired.  The whole team was tired from the looks of things.  Back to backs in the NBA are tough, it was an advantage for the Celtics, but this win was about more than just that.  The Celtics played great.  Really showed what they can do.  Now the Celtics have to prove that they can be that team when it really counts, in the playoffs.

You can't waste games in the playoffs (like we have in the regular season).  Every extra game you play, you are that much more worn down and it may come back to bite you in a game in the next round.  If you take say 6 games to beat ATL instead of 5, because you got lazy in a game, that can start to add up.  Maybe you are a little more tired in a game against PHI in the next round.   People are nursing injuries.  Every day of rest is important.

Do people realize that historically a back to back results in a team performing 1.5 to 2 points worse on the second night. It’s not some massive disadvantage….

Isn't that exactly what I said.  It was an advantage for BOS that MIL had a back to back.  You quantified that it is on average 1.5 to 2.0 point different.  I then said that the win was about a lot more than the back to back.

Subjectively, my take on the game was that MIL looked like a tired team.  Holiday in particular, an older player (32) was significantly less productive in the second of the back to back than the first (51 pts vs. 6 pts).  He played 32 min and took 30 shots the night before and had nothing in this game.  I think the back to back impact in this case for this team was more than 2 points.  It wasn't 40 points, but based on what I saw of the game, I would say it was definitely part of the equation of why the Celtics were able to run them off the court.  For the season, Holiday has been fine in the second of back to backs but he was not fine in this game.

Holiday is a really important part of this team.  He is +6.7 per game, best on the team (GA is +5.0).  His NRTG is +8.4, also best on the team.  He is an important catalyst for the team and in the Celtics game, he was tired because of the back to back and it had a big impact on the team.  He is having a really good year for them.  19 pts, 7 assists, pretty good shooting efficiency, not getting to the line as much as I would expect but he is having a really good season for them and was important to their hot streak.

[celticsclay]

Holiday, 51 points last night on 30 attempts.  Wow.  I hope his arms are tired.

Holiday, 2-8, 6 points, I guess he was tired.  The whole team was tired from the looks of things.  Back to backs in the NBA are tough, it was an advantage for the Celtics, but this win was about more than just that.  The Celtics played great.  Really showed what they can do.  Now the Celtics have to prove that they can be that team when it really counts, in the playoffs.

You can't waste games in the playoffs (like we have in the regular season).  Every extra game you play, you are that much more worn down and it may come back to bite you in a game in the next round.  If you take say 6 games to beat ATL instead of 5, because you got lazy in a game, that can start to add up.  Maybe you are a little more tired in a game against PHI in the next round.   People are nursing injuries.  Every day of rest is important.

Do people realize that historically a back to back results in a team performing 1.5 to 2 points worse on the second night. It’s not some massive disadvantage….

Isn't that exactly what I said.  It was an advantage for BOS that MIL had a back to back.  You quantified that it is on average 1.5 to 2.0 point different.  I then said that the win was about a lot more than the back to back.

Subjectively, my take on the game was that MIL looked like a tired team.  Holiday in particular, an older player (32) was significantly less productive in the second of the back to back than the first (51 pts vs. 6 pts).  He played 32 min and took 30 shots the night before and had nothing in this game.  I think the back to back impact in this case for this team was more than 2 points.  It wasn't 40 points, but based on what I saw of the game, I would say it was definitely part of the equation of why the Celtics were able to run them off the court.  For the season, Holiday has been fine in the second of back to backs but he was not fine in this game.

Holiday is a really important part of this team.  He is +6.7 per game, best on the team (GA is +5.0).  His NRTG is +8.4, also best on the team.  He is an important catalyst for the team and in the Celtics game, he was tired because of the back to back and it had a big impact on the team.  He is having a really good year for them.  19 pts, 7 assists, pretty good shooting efficiency, not getting to the line as much as I would expect but he is having a really good season for them and was important to their hot streak.

I wasn’t trying to come at you vg. I just saw a lot of people throughout the gsme thread saying it wasn’t that surprising a result cause they were on second night of back to back. So I was genuinely asking how big an advantage people think it is. Historically it is not a huge deal (1.5 to 2 points). I agree with you Holliday played poor and has been really good but I do think some credit goes to our guards defensively as they have decent size to bother holiday and played really well.

[Sophomore]

The way the Cs played last night, I like their chances against the Bucks even if we get Milwaukee’s best game.

But I doubt that was their best. It’s not just B2B. It’s five games in seven nights, with travel between each game. That’s a lot.