Bench Play One Example of How Far Ahead Celtics are of Bucks

 

BOSTON — Damian Lillard said earlier this season that he thought the Bucks experience would go similar to how the Celtics’ season did. Instead, 11.0 games now separate the teams many predicted would battle neck-and-neck all season and despite Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence on Wednesday, it wasn’t Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum building a double-digit lead on the Bucks as the two team’s starters played relatively even. Tatum (+2), Luke Kornet (+7), Svi Mykhailiuk (+10) and a revelatory Payton Pritchard (+2) performance powered Boston’s only positive minutes.

“In the first half, I thought we played great offensively in that (bench) unit,” Doc Rivers said. “It’s just, Pritchard happened.”

Pritchard inserted himself between Brook Lopez and a rebound midway through the second quarter, ripped it from Lopez, who sent a slight shove while the crowd stood and entered a frenzy. Pritchard shot 5-for-7 in the first half, scored 13 points in 18 minutes and dished three assists without a turnover. Tatum staggered into those second unit minutes, and while Lillard and Khris Middleton made up for some of Milwaukee’s missing front-line scoring from Antetokounmpo, they couldn’t make up for the missing bench until too late in a 122-119 last minute rally that fell short.

The loss showed ways the Bucks can bridge the gap between them and the Celtics, they’re not that far, while inspiring only little confidence they can do so four times. Milwaukee lacked the defensive versatility, depth and layers of creation necessary to match Boston’s. Along with the time Joe Mazzulla has had to to instill his philosophy. The Rivers transition looks as geared for next season as this one, lamenting the extremely difficult feat they’re trying to achieve while aiming to be a tough out this postseason. They showed they can be that against the Celtics on Wednesday. They both have to get there. Both sides shrugged off the inevitability of a series.

“The only thing that I know is we’re not going to catch them in the standings,” Rivers joked pre-game. “They’re terrific. They’ve been the best team in the NBA thus far. As I’ve learned and we’ve all learned, you don’t get a lot for that. You just get to be called the best team in the NBA right now, and they’re gonna be hard to beat … from our standpoint, we don’t look at that. We just look at us from within and see if we can be ready when that time comes.”

Tatum punched like Rivers predicted he would a la Tyson, scoring 10 points in four minutes to deliver a 17-10 lead after a close start. The Bucks’ starters manipulated Kristaps Porzingis’ drop, while Porzingis struggled to overwhelm Milwaukee’s, Rivers saying before the game how taking the rim away from Boston is key to preventing drive-and-kicks. Porzingis posted and kicked the ball out to Derrick White for a three and the Celtics overwhelmed the Lillard matchup, but Porzingis uncharacteristically struggled, finishing 6-for-16 over 28 minutes. The Bucks turned it over five times early, hitting 46% of their threes to stay within five points.

Boston’s lineup experimentation continued throughout the game with Jrue Holiday and Sam Hauser out, even with the margin growing close. The breadth of the Celtics’ talent that Rivers praised extended to the bench. White dished four assists and went around Xavier Tillman off-ball for a layup late in the quarter. Pritchard started 2-of-3 from deep into the second. Kornet set a strong off-ball screen for to create a three. A few too small taunts by Patrick Beverley after scoring past Kornet seemed to fire up the crowd and Pritchard’s pace. The Celtics reserve guard rocketed downhill into traffic to cap a 15-8 bench run with a kick-out to Mykhailiuk for three. Boston led by 13 at half. Pritchard later said he took the slight personally.

“You can’t take anything from the game,” Mazzulla quipped post-game. “I mean you can, but I don’t want to overthink. Nothing’s guaranteed in life. We may see them, they may see us, we may not. You never know what’s going to happen. I know both teams are identifying an identity. There’s obviously a DNA there that both teams have, but you don’t want to overthink things and you don’t take anything for granted.”

The Celtics bench mostly repeated those exploits in the second half, going back up by 15 midway through the third on a Pritchard three after tough Lillard and Middleton jump shots pulled Milwaukee within eight. That briefly expanded to 21, but Bobby Portis got going with three put-back finishes between quarters before he hit a turnaround over Brown to cut that advantage down to 10. It called back to a similar Lillard-led comeback in November that fell short, while the Bucks’ domination of the first half in their second meeting that led Mazzulla to bench the starters led to similarly inconclusive takeaways. Rivers took over for Adrian Griffin soon after, and though one game remains at Milwaukee on Apr. 9, both sides will have inevitably showed each other little entering the playoffs.

White hit a three to stave off Lillard’s long step-back three, hunting Al Horford before Pat Connaughton’s put-back, a Portis three and finish inside actually cut into Boston’s advantage. With three minutes remaining, the Celtics only led by three. Then, the Bucks’ makes ran out, with Portis and Lillard launching and missing threes while Tatum lined up Malik Beasley for four straight points. A Porzingis offensive rebound, dunk and pair of Brown free throws following an overzealous Beasley foul prevented Milwaukee’s final scramble to within two from knocking the Celtics off. It showed possibility in a zone look being able to slow Boston by gluing Brook Lopez to the rim. And how far Milwaukee has to go.

“I think (Tatum) should (go the third quarter without a shot) all the time,” Rivers said. “I thought the zone was the reason for that, because they were moving the ball around and by the time it got to him, there was no time to shoot. I thought they made a nice adjustment. They just gave him the ball and went ISO, which is a pretty good when you’re Jayson Tatum.”

Here’s what else stood out from Celtics-Bucks…

• The Lillard defense was truly brutal. The Celtics shot 7-for-14 against him. Middleton fared worse (7-10) and Boston unloaded on Lopez inside and out (6-7), frustrating him by drawing 29 free throws. A bad rotation late gave up a decisive White three. It’s still too bad, and against a Celtics offense relentlessly attacking matchups this season, you can’t expose as many as three defenders as mismatches.
• Still, back line size that’s poised to add Antetokounmpo drew Boston into some traps. Porzingis mostly popped and shot 0-for-5 from three. The Celtics tried to play bigger with Tillman and Kornet, and it hurt their spacing. Pritchard and White’s success showed that Boston might just have to play its game, go small and run rather than trying to match how big Milwaukee plays. The Bucks’ nine offensive rebounds were an aberration for Rivers’ team as he tries to get them back on defense.
• Horford and Porzingis started with Holiday out and Lillard shot 10 threes over drop looks and Horford switches. Both bigs tried to survive his pick-and-rolls, and he mostly tore them up. It was a dazzling display and a reminder that the Bucks’ two stars might be the best equipped to hang with Brown and Tatum offensively. Mazzulla mentioned trying not to overreact to other occurrences like Portis’ outbreak (11-20 FG) that coincided with Lillard’s, but rather just stay home as crunch time calls for. Boston improved to 12-9 in three-point games under three minutes. That’s progress. Enough to feel good about Milwaukee being able to shoot its way back into any given game getting close late? Not quite. The Bucks own the two highest shooting percentages in the NBA over the Celtics this season.
• Middleton quietly looked closer to his old self than I’d seen in years: 22 PTs, 6 REB, 6 AST, 8/11 FG, 2/3 3PT. He’s shooting 49.3% from the field and 38.5% from three this season, his best marks since 2021.
• Tillman’s still looking for his offensive niche. He’s shooting 3-for-13 from three, mostly playing the four. Kornet faced switches defensively and only played nine minutes.
• Neither Lillard nor Middleton sounded impressed by Brown’s full court press on Lillard: “That’s why you watch film. It’s your makeup, who you are and what you put into the game … It wasn’t something where I was like, ‘oh, they put a wing on me.’ I just knew I’m gonna have to be aggressive, I’m gonna have to find my spots and get him off-balance and I was able to do that … it’s nothing I haven’t seen before. None of it … you gotta be sharp and tactical about how you attack it, but I’ve seen everything at this point in my career.”Wedn