BOSTON — The Boston Celtics were without a number of key players Friday, forcing head coach Brad Stevens to get a bit creative with his starting five against the Milwaukee Bucks.
With Al Horford, Aron Baynes and Marcus Morris all out of action, Stevens opted to reinsert Gordon Hayward into the starting lineup while slotting Semi Ojeleye at center.
The tactical change paid dividends out of the gate, as the C’s jumped out to a quick 10-1 run and managed to draw three offensive fouls less than three minutes into the game, two of which by Ojeleye. Boston’s advantage didn’t last very long, however, as Milwaukee dominated the rest of the first quarter en route to a 120-107 win.
After the game, Stevens shed some light on his thought process behind starting Ojeleye at the five and tasking Hayward with guarding Bucks center Brook Lopez.
“I didn’t think that would hurt us, but obviously we started out 10-1 and in the second half we started out about even, that six minutes. But it was to match. It was to match up, obviously, defensively on Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and then offensively try to spread the floor. And you know, some things worked to our advantage, some things didn’t. You know obviously, if Al or Baynes were in the game, they probably would’ve started anyways. But I thought Semi did a lot of good things tonight.”
Unfortunately for the Celtics, you only can contain Antetokounmpo for so long. After being limited to just 11 first-half points, the Greek Freak erupted for 17 in the third quarter, which helped prevent Boston from making a serious rally. The Bucks as a team largely were in a groove from the floor as well, posting a 51.2 percent shooting clip for the game.
We probably should get used to lineup mixing and matching from the Celtics over the next few weeks, as Baynes is expected to miss at least a month while Horford’s knee issue very well could linger. And while being shorthanded is undesirable, this upcoming stretch should allow some players deeper on Boston’s bench to show their worth.
Here are some other notes from Friday’s Celtics-Bucks game:
— Jaylen Brown turned in one of his best games of the season, scoring a team-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shootings with seven rebounds.
— Milwaukee outclassed Boston on the glass to the tune of a 55-35 rebound advantage.
— The Bucks knocked down 16-of-40 attempts from beyond the arc, marking the fourth time this season a Celtics opponent has shot 40 percent or better from 3-point range.
— Jayson Tatum posted 20 points, including 12 in the third quarter. The second-year forward now has scored in double figures in 20 straight games for the first time in his young career.
— Boston now has dropped three consecutive games after having its win streak halted at eight last Saturday.
