Celtics vs Bucks

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Milwaukee Bucks · When: Sunday, May 1 | 1 p.m. ET · Where: TD Garden -- Boston, Massachusetts · TV: ABC | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for ...

With Middleton sidelined, the Bucks will need the rest of the roster to step up, something Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer is well aware of. For what it's worth, the two teams split their four regular season meetings, with the Celtics winning both games in Boston and the Bucks taking both in Milwaukee. It will be interesting to see if this pattern continues in the postseason. Now the question will be if they can limit Giannis Antetokounmpo's production in a similar manner. The Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks is set to tip off Sunday afternoon. Bucks: The absence of Khris Middleton is the biggest storyline for the Bucks heading into the series. Now, they'll square off against each other for an opportunity to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Celtics lost Sunday at TD Garden, falling 101-89 to the Bucks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Antetokounmpo thrived as a facilitator in this one and had seven assists in the first half alone to set his teammates open for open threes. He was energetic on the boards with eight rebounds in 22 minutes (including seven in the first half) and also added three blocks while holding his own against Antetokounmpo and Bucks seven-footer Brook Lopez. The Bucks' frontcourt duo of Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez made life very challenging inside for Boston, which struggled to finish at the rim. The Bucks hit 50% of their threes in the first half, while Holiday and Allen combined for six of Milwaukee's 12 deep balls. Tatum and Brown didn't get much help from their supporting cast -- Payton Pritchard and Grant Williams shot a combined 4 for 12 from 3-point range -- but the Celtics will only go as far as the Jays take them in this series, and they have some work to do entering Game 2. The Celtics shouldn't miss two thirds of their shots going forward, and they could open up the floor more by hitting more open threes (18 for 50 in Game 1).

Here's everything you need to know about Celtics vs. Bucks, including a full schedule for the first-round series.

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SportsLine's model simulated Game 1 of the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Boston Celtics series in the 2022 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Bucks? And which side of the spread hits over 50 percent of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed its NBA picks, and find out. The model also says one side of the spread hits over 50 percent of the time. Antetokounmpo is a stat-stuffer who produces dominant numbers on both ends of the floor. Now, the Celtics will focus their efforts on slowing down Giannis Antetokounmpo, who averaged 28.6 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game during the Bulls series. Antetokounmpo is an athletic freak who impacts the game in many different ways. Despite the Nets having two of the most dominant offensive players of this generation in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Celtics managed to hold those two stars in check. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. ET at TD Garden. Boston is favored by 4.5-points in the latest Bucks vs. Here are several NBA odds and betting lines for Bucks vs. The model enters the second full week of the 2022 NBA playoffs on a stunning 86-58 roll on all top-rated NBA picks, returning over $2,100. Bucks, and just locked in its picks and NBA playoff predictions. The Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics will begin their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Sunday and both teams should be riding high after decisive wins in their first-round matchups.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scores 24 points, distributes game-high 12 assists while Bucks' physical defense limits Celtics to 89 points in 101-89 win.

With 48 seconds remaining, Tatum drove and kicked it out to White for a three from the right wing that cut Boston's deficit to 76-69. As a team, the Celtics were held to 33.3 percent shooting from the field and went 18/50 (36 percent) from long range. With 4:03 to play, after Antetokounmpo missed a free throw, he picked up his third foul going for the rebound. That put the Bucks ahead 101-87 with 2:10 left, and coach Udoka decided it was time to empty the bench. As a team, the Bucks were 10/20 from beyond the arc, generated 18 fast-break points, 14 off turnovers, and 14 in the paint. Antetokounmpo utilized his height and length to throw the ball over the top of the defense, and he was making simple swing passes to shooters open due to the extra attention required to slow down Antetokounmpo. He also grabbed eight rebounds in the first half. He went with a trainer to the locker room, hunched over, holding his arm. At the 4:10 mark, Tatum stepped into a pull-up three from above the break and buried it, giving him six points and cutting his team's deficit to 45-40. But Grayson Allen countered with his third three of the day, giving him nine points and pushing Milwaukee's lead back to eight. At the 7:41 mark, with the Celtics trailing 33-32, Jaylen Brown missed a three from 25-feet out. The second-year guard drained an open three from the right corner a couple of minutes later to put Boston back on top, 32-31. Antetokounmpo lofted a pass to Wes Matthews for an alley-oop layup that gave Milwaukee a 27-24 advantage entering the second frame.

Between Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston was trying to shoot through a field of windmills.

But there's no doubt Lopez and the Milwaukee defense scored a round-one knockdown. Boston wants clean drive and kicks, but Milwaukee was stoning them to such a degree that the kick-out passes were more like bailout passes. By then the Bucks had time to rotate back to shooters and contest. He finished with 21 points but only shot 6 of 18 from the field. Tatum drew the superstar attention, as he should, facing occasional doubles but more often simply seeing two or three help defenders within a step of his driving lanes while dealing with relentless ball pressure. Boston has its own swarming defense, and we saw plenty of it in Game 1. They fought over screens and the wings were on high alert to sink down into driving lanes. After all that, then you run into Lopez. The result: Milwaukee only gave up 20 points in the paint for the entire game. If you are looking to completely discredit single-game plus-minus numbers, look no further than Brook Lopez's minus-10 line in the Milwaukee Bucks' Game 1 victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Lopez was a superhero. Under Mike Budenholzer, the Bucks have long been willing to concede 3-pointers if it means controlling the paint. Jrue Holiday, Javon Carter and Pat Connaughton sucked out all the air between them and Boston's ball-handlers. It felt as if the Celtics were trying to shoot through a field of windmills.

The 2021–22 Defensive Player of the Year took a few hits to his right quad in Sunday's loss.

Smart also had to leave Sunday’s Game 1 with just over a minute remaining in the second quarter after taking a stinger to his right shoulder. Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined to go 10-for-31 from the field in the loss. He played for six more minutes before Udoka pulled the Celtics starters from the floor.