The Bucks will return home for game 3 of the series | Wikimedia Commons
The Bucks will return home for game 3 of the series | Wikimedia Commons
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is getting everything he wants in his dominant, early-postseason start.
“I want the road to be tough,” Antetokounmpo recently posted on Twitter. “When you face adversity that’s when you grow the most and that’s when you’re ready to compete.”
The defending NBA champions looked more than ready for the part on Sunday, annihilating the up-until-then playoff-unbeaten Boston Celtics 101-89 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in Boston.
Again, Antetokounmpo was at the center of it all, registering a 24 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assist triple-double while Jrue Holiday added 25 points. The Bucks pulled off the win with Khris Middleton being sidelined with a sprained MCL.
While Middleton’s injury had made Boston the heavy-favorite among experts, in the end Milwaukee’s level of physicality proved too much for the Celtics, with Celtics’ star forward Jaylen Brown admitting his team had been caught off guard and felt like the Bucks really “hit them in the mouth.”
In Middleton’s absence, Grayson Allen stepped up as one of his replacements, adding 11 points and three steals as the Bucks’ defense held Boston to the second fewest (10) ever 2-point field goals in a playoff game in history.
CBS Sports reports that after averaging nearly 69 points per game in their first-round sweep of Brooklyn, the Celtics trio of Brown, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart combined for just 43 against Milwaukee.
"We have to obviously play with a little bit better poise and, you know, not get rushed at times," Boston coach Ume Udoka told ESPN.
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