The Celtics Defended Their Home Court To Beat The Bucks And Move On To The Conference Semifinals

There may not have been a less aesthetically pleasing series than the first round matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks. In one corner, we had a really good but really injured Celtics squad that was heading into the first round without Gordon Hayward or Kyrie Irving. In the other, we had the Bucks, which had quite the 1-2 punch in Giannis Antetekounmpo and Khris Middleton but seemed to underachieve all year and were being led by an interim head coach.

The teams had to go to seven games to ultimately decide a victor, and despite the fact that Boston’s injury list grew by one Jaylen Brown during the game, the Celtics were able to come out on top. They managed to keep Milwaukee at arm’s length for much of the game, coming out on top with a 112-96 win in front of their hometown crowd.

The Celtics turned to a pair of players in this one. Unsurprisingly, Al Horford came up big, as the team’s All-Star big man went for 26 points and eight rebounds. It’s the kind of game you expect out of a star in a Game 7, and Horford came up big by doing a whole bunch of Al Horford things.

In a more surprising twist, Terry Rozier exploded for 26 points, nine assists, and six rebounds. Rozier has been really good during the postseason while Irving has been on the sidelines, but managed to save his best for last. While Celtics fans tried to get into Bledsoe’s head during the game, Rozier thrived.

Jayson Tatum pitched in 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists, as well. On the other side of things, Middleton went for a game-high 32 points, while Antetokounmpo stuffed the stat sheet as he usually does, accruing 22 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Bledsoe, to his credit, had 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting.

Boston doesn’t have the star power of most teams with the injuries to Hayward and Irving, but instead, they play well as a unit and have one of the best coaches in the league. That carried them through one round, but the Philadelphia 76ers — which looked outstanding during their first round series win over the Miami Heat — are a different animal. Game 1 in what should be a fantastic Eastern Conference Semifinals tilt will tip off in Boston on Monday night.