The Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks are squaring up in the NBA Playoffs for the second year in a row.
Boston was able to narrowly defeat the Bucks in seven games during last year’s surprising Eastern Conference Finals run, but both teams enter their 2019 second-round matchup looking completely different. The Celtics finished second in the 2017-18 regular season Eastern Conference standings — as opposed to fourth this year — but were without the services of Kyrie Irving (knee) and Gordon Hayward (ankle) who are both healthy at the moment.
Milwaukee finished the 2018-19 regular season with the best record in the league, far from their seventh place finish in the Eastern Conference last season. The Bucks hired 2015 NBA Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer to go along with the signing of stretch center Brook Lopez before the 2018-19 season. Milwaukee also bolstered its roster with the acquisitions of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic at this year’s Trade Deadline.
These two teams are poised for a long and exciting series, but Boston does have a few things in their favor that could lead to an upset.
1. Playoff Experience
Boston enters its matchup with the Bucks with an almost identical roster as they had during last year’s postseason run. The team had success against Milwaukee, last year and now adds two All-Star-level players to the mix, in Irving and Hayward. Milwaukee’s first-round series victory against the Detroit Pistons was just the team’s first playoff series win since 2000-2001. Almost Boston’s entire roster has had playoff success, including NBA Championships from Irving and Aron Baynes. Aside from George Hill and an injured Gasol, the Bucks’ roster doesn’t feature a lot of past playoff success.
2. Ability to Switch on Defense
The Celtics roster is primarily made up of lengthy wings who can switch on defense around the perimeter. Milwaukee’s biggest improvement this season has been their 3-point shooting, as they finished second in the league in both attempts and makes per game. A solid switching ability can help limit open attempts from the beyond-the-arc, plus Boston finished the regular season holding opponents to just 35.5 percent shooting from long range. Semi Ojeleye’s play on the defensive end could also be important for Boston as he has been the Celtics’ best option covering Giannis Antetokounmpo even starting Games 5-7 of last year’s series in order to cover the potential 2018-19 MVP.
3. The Resurgence of Gordon Hayward
Hayward started the season off slowly as he recovered from his gruesome ankle injury, but has looked like his former self of late. He averaged 12.8 points per game in Boston’s first-round sweep against the Indiana Pacers on 44.4 percent shooting from beyond-the-arc and closed out the series in Game 4 with 20 points on 7-9 shooting. Hayward showed flashes of his former self throughout the regular season, but has recently been able to consistently show why he was awarded a max contract.
