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Celtics Discuss Dominating Performance in 140-99 Win Over Bucks
Thursday night in Milwaukee, the Celtics put together arguably their best win of the season, especially when factoring in the opponent.
Boston's 140-99 blowout of the Bucks also came on the heels of a lopsided loss to the 34-42 Wizards, the latest example of playing down to a sub-.500 opponent.
While that trend is likely to cost the defending Eastern Conference champions the one seed, meaning they likely have to go through the Sixers and Bucks to get back to the NBA Finals, playing up to their standard against the league's top teams hasn't proven much of an issue this season.
The Celtics are 16-7 against the nine other teams in the top 10 in point differential, per Cleaning the Glass.
Thursday, in their latest victory of that nature, they were sharp at both ends of the floor.
Defensively, showing Giannis Antetokounmpo multiple bodies, whether building a wall or surrounding him when he got the ball down low, led to him scoring 24 points on 27 shots. They also limited him to three free throws.
They also played on a string, demonstrating clinical rotations, coupling that with on-ball pressure that kept Milwaukee from collapsing the defense.
The hosts shot 37.6 percent from the field, including 14/43 (32.6 percent) from three-point range. They also committed 14 turnovers, which Boston converted into 17 points.
The Celtics' play defensively allowed them to maintain an up-tempo approach that helped them produce 54 points in the paint and repeatedly create high-quality looks.
Their pace, purposeful ball movement, and disciplined shot selection translated to assisting on 28/51 field goals and shooting 56 percent from the floor, including 22/43 (51.2 percent) from behind the arc.
Jayson Tatum (40 points) and Jaylen Brown (30) combined for 70 points on Thursday, outscoring the Bucks 70-69 with a minute left in the third quarter.
The visitors played so well that those two, along with Al Horford and Marcus Smart, got the final frame off.
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After the game, while discussing the win, Celtics' head coach Joe Mazzulla expressed, "obviously, we made shots, and I thought in the beginning of the game we came out with an intentionality, and our game-plan discipline, I thought we did a really good job keeping them out of transition.
"I thought they missed a lot of shots in the first quarter. They had some wide-open threes that they missed off of offensive rebounds and one or two in transition, but for the most part, we managed the game with our detailed offensive attack, which kept them out of transition, and we kept them off the free-throw line."
While sharing what stood out to him in the win, Mazzulla stated, "outside of making shots, I thought we had a different approach to our mindset tonight, and it's something we have to continue (to do moving) forward."
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Smart, who finished with ten points, a game-high eight assists, and four rebounds, conveyed the following of Boston's approach on Thursday.
"Just focusing on us. We understood that coming in tonight, it was gonna be a major challenge against a really, really good team. We knew how these guys play. We knew that they was gonna come out and challenge us, so we just wanted to be ready for that and we just wanted to redeem ourselves."
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Horford, who registered 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists, relayed he was "very proud of the group to come into a tough road environment and play this way. Just happy with our guys tonight," adding that in his eyes, this wasn't about sending messages, and he was "just happy how we responded as a group."
Further Reading
Here's What Stood Out in Celtics' Win vs. Bucks: Boston Sends a Message in Blowout Victory
Al Horford Shares His First Impressions of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum
Al Horford Discusses Jayson Tatum's Ability to Stay Locked in Even When He's Struggling
