BOSTON — Fourth quarter, game still in doubt and Giannis Antetokounmpo decided, hey, let’s do something crazy. Antetokounmpo was intercepted on the edge by Grant Williams, stepped to the edge, turned the ball off the backboard, caught it and threw a dunk between two Celtics defenders.
It swelled Milwaukee’s lead to 16 with six minutes left. And ended any fleeting hope Boston had of a comeback with Sunday’s 101-89 loss.
“Throw it at the back wall,” said Antetokounmpo. “I’m glad God blessed me with the ability to jump.”
Deadpanned Jrue Holiday: “I could probably do that [that] on an eight-foot hoop.”
Mike Budenholzer added: “It’s just pure talent, just pure instinct. He’s a great player, he does things that are unique and special and contemporary. It’s one of those games where you’re just glad he’s on our side.”
Milwaukee won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Sunday. And Antetokounmpo reminded everyone why he should still be considered the best player in the world. It wasn’t old Giannis. He shot 9-for-25. He missed both of his three. He committed a silly foul – his fourth – late in the third quarter that sent him to the bench. But he scored 24 points. He pulled down 13 rebounds. He dished out 12 assists. He contributed to a suffocating Bucks defense.
And most importantly, his team won.
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The MVP will be announced later this month. Giannis will not win it. He probably won’t finish higher than third. But his game on Sunday is a reminder that when he’s sharp he’s almost unstoppable. Those Boston defenders who effectively restricted Kevin Durant? Antetokounmpo sped right through them. When Boston messed up his defense, Giannis patiently picked them apart.
“We drove too fast [with double teams] sometimes,” said Celtics coach Ime Udoka. “He’s going to find those passes, so we have to be careful not to come too fast with the double.”
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Boston mistreated Brooklyn in the last round. But that’s a different series. The Bucks love physical play. “Maybe I’m weird, but I thrive on physicality,” said Antetokounmpo. And Milwaukee can dish it out. The Bucks frontline with Giannis, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis dominated the Celtics frontcourt, controlling the glass (54-48 edge on rebounds) and limiting Boston to 20 points in the paint. They forced turnovers (18) and made many of them (27 points) while limiting the Celtics’ production in the paint (20 points).
“They hit us in the mouth early on,” Jaylen Brown said.
Al Horford said, “You were on another level.”
Boston has an elite defense. In Game 1, Milwaukees was better. Jayson Tatum scored 21 points. Brown had 12. As a team, the Celtics shot 33.3% from the field. They only made 10 shots from inside the three-point line. Lopez’s return from a back injury in mid-March turned a good Bucks defense into a great one. In Game 1, Lopez pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked three shots in 28 minutes. “He’s so active,” said Antetokounmpo. “He was amazing.”
Great? This is Antetokounmpo. Any other year, Antetokounmpo would have been a shoo-in for MVP. He averaged 30 points, 11.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists in the regular season. He remained one of the best defensive players in the NBA. In the first round against Chicago, Giannis averaged 28.6 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists, numbers that would have been better had he not played just 29 minutes in a Game 3 laugh.
The Bucks drew first blood in this series. The absence of Khris Middleton, who is expected to miss this series with a knee injury, is significant, but Milwaukee believes it can win with a strong defense. Since the sluggish first two games against Chicago, they’ve looked like the defending champions.
“I think we played a lot better defensively [since then]said Antetokounmpo. “We realized that to win games we have to be careful. One of our best scorers isn’t out there. We know we have to be careful. If we’re not careful, we don’t stand a chance.”
The Celtics need to regroup. “We better do what we want to do and not let the game dictate that to us,” Tatum said. You must be of Milwaukee physicality. You have to get off the three point line (50 tries in game 1) and force the problem in the suit.
The home advantage is gone. The momentum gained from a four-game sweep by Brooklyn has come to a screeching halt. “We’ve been resilient all year,” Brown said. “It’s just a testament to what we’ve been through all season, the ups and downs. This group is going to be tested so we just need to come out with confidence and not lose faith in each other.”
And they must contain Giannis. The ex-MVP doesn’t become an MVP, but plays like an MVP. The Middleton injury hurts. But against Boston, Antetokounmpo and a strong defense can be enough.
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