Giannis Antetokounmpo stands for a massive dungeon that brings Milwaukee’s bench to its feet. (0:29)
BOSTON – Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo made two unsuccessful attempts to pass Boston Celtics striker Grant Williams on Sunday with a possession possession in the middle of the fourth quarter on Sunday, so Antetokounmpo had to be creative.
He faked a shot to his left and then turned his body to the right, gathering his legs to throw the ball off the board and slammed home a two-handed dunk. His alley-oop for himself silenced the Boston crowd and put an exclamation point on a dominant performance of Milwaukee in a 101-89 victory in the opening of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday.
“I had the ball and I said, ‘Oh, hell, I’m going to get stuck,'” Antetokounmpo said after the game. “I threw it on the board and I’m pretty lucky that God has blessed me with the ability to jump in and go get it again.”
Antetokounmpo’s dunk was a microcosm of how game 1 unfolded.
The Celtics made it difficult for Antetokounmpo for the entire game – keeping it at 9 out of 25 shots in five innings – but in the end, it was too much for Boston to control. Antetokounmpo recorded his second triple-double in his playoff career, finishing with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.
It was the third worst shooting performance of his career in the playoffs, but Antetokounmpo still managed to become the first player in the history of the franchise with several triple-doubles in the playoffs.
“They were physically helpful,” Antetokounmpo said of the Celtics defense. “Helping. Being active. They were very good.”
However, despite his poor shooting performance, Antetokounmpo withstood the Bucks offense. He accumulated 55 points from Milwaukee, partially, bringing open shots to his colleagues. Bucks drew 12 of 18 (7 of 12 of 3) from his passes, and 14 of those glances were undisputed, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
With Milwaukee missing striker Khris Middleton and goalkeeper Jrue Holiday in a foul problem, Antetokounmpo played almost the entire first half, coming out of play for a long time for the first time in the third quarter, after getting into trouble. fault. Bucks outscored the Celtics by 23 with Antetokounmpo on the floor and were minus-11 when he was off the field.
“Patience, keep working, keep working, keep reading the defense,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said of Antetokounmpo’s performance. “The distance around him has to be great and we have to give him drawings. He just keeps reading the game. Sometimes he scores, sometimes he splits it. He knows he has to do both.”
And although I usually see Antetokounmpo succeeding in the spectacular, his alley-oop in the fourth quarter amazed his colleagues.
“It’s elite,” Holiday said, shaking his head. “I can’t do that. I wouldn’t even try.”
Bobks Portis, Bucks’ striker, added: “Not too many words to say, to be honest.”
The Celtics promoted to the No. 1 defense in the league during the regular season and went through the first round by suffocating Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets. But after they finished the regular season no. 14 in the NBA in defensive efficiency, the Bucks increased their defensive intensity. They have the best defensive rating in the postseason so far.
Milwaukee kept the Celtics at 33.3% overall and kept them away from the paint, forcing Boston to try to win the game with contested jumpers. The Celtics were only 3 to 20 when Antetokounmpo or Brook Lopez challenged their shots, and Holiday held Boston at only 4 to 13 when he was the main defender, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
“We play hard defensively. I think we realized that in order to be in the game, to win games, we have to be careful,” said Antetokounmpo. “Offensively, obviously one of our top scorers [Middleton] isn’t there, so we know we have to be careful, and offensively we’ll figure it out.”
“At the end of the day, if we don’t guard, we have no chance of being in the game. I think after Game 2 [against the Bulls in the first round] we were like, we have to start guarding. We have to take that pride on the defensive.”
Match 2 is in Boston on Tuesday night.