The first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Bucks and the Celtics will begin at 1 a.m. on May 2, and the Bucks Middleton is likely to miss this round of the series due to injury, and the Celtics are currently in full health. The two sides have met each other 4 times in the regular season, with each team winning 2 games. The two teams meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals, who can qualify?
Bucks playoff lineup: Starting alphabet brother, Holliday, Portis, Lopez The Great, Matthews. Substitutes Aaron, Connaughton, Ibaka, Tucker, Carter, Walla, Alphabet Brother. The manager is Budenholzer.
Celtics playoff lineup: Starting as Tatham, Brown, Smart, Horford, Thes. The benches are White, Lowe, Gway and Pregart. The manager is Uduka.
The Bucks eliminated the Bulls 4-1 to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, averaging 101.1 (3rd) in five playoff games, 109.8 points (7th), 51.8 rebounds (1st), 23.4 assists (8th), 6.4 steals (12th), 4.8 blocks (5th), 47.2% shooting percentage (7th), 38% three-point shooting (5th), 68.9% free throw shooting (16th), Three-point shooting 36.8 (3rd), 14 three-point shooting (4th), 15.4 turnovers (ranked 4), offensive efficiency 108.3 (13th), defensive efficiency 94.4 (1st).
The Celtics eliminated the Nets 4-0 to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, averaging 95 per game in four playoff games (7th), scoring 113.5 points (3rd), rebounding 39.5 (10th), assisting 25.8 (4th), steals 8.8 (3rd), blocking 4 (8th), shooting 49% (4th), shooting 35.5% from three-point range (8th), and shooting 82.4% from the free throw line (4th), Three-point shooting 34.5 (8th), 12.3 three-point shooting (7th), 14 turnovers (ranked 9), 119.2 offensive efficiency (3rd), defensive efficiency 115 (9th).
Judging from the playoff statistics of both teams, the Bucks defended better and the Celtics had a stronger offensive ability. The Bucks are the league's top rebounders, and the Celtics are leading in terms of scoring, assists and shooting.
Since the two sides have different playoff opponents, the value of these data for reference is not too large, let's look at the 4 regular season games between the two sides:
The Bucks lost 113-122 to the Celtics in overtime on Nov. 13 last year, and Schroeder became a hero in overtime, scoring six consecutive points to seal the win. Bucks and Middleton are out of the game, and Celtic Brown is out. Holliday had 17 points and 13 assists, Portis 22 points and six rebounds, Allen 21 points and 4 rebounds; Tatum had 27 points and 11 rebounds, Schroder had 38 points and eight rebounds, and Smart had 19 points, six rebounds and six assists.
The Bucks lost 103-117 to the Celtics on the road on Dec. 14 last year, and the Bucks collapsed and lost games in the second and third quarters. Alphabet Brother 20 points and 8 rebounds, Holliday 20 points and 8 assists, Middleton 4 points and 8 rebounds; Tatum 42 points and 5 rebounds, Brown 19 points and 5 assists, Smart 2 points and 11 assists.
The Bucks narrowly beat the Celtics 117-113 at home on December 26 last year, relying on Matthews' three-pointers and Middleton's free throws. Alphabet Brother 36 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists, Middleton 17 points and 7 assists, Holliday 17 points and 5 rebounds; Tatum 25 points and 9 rebounds, Brown 25 points, Smart 19 points and 7 assists.
On April 8, the Bucks narrowly won 127-121 at home to the Celtics, and the Bucks relied on Portis' three-pointer and Holliday's layup to seal the win. Alphabet Brother 29 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, Middleton 22 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, Holliday 29 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists; Brown 22 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, Smart 29 points and 7 assists, Theth 22 points and 5 rebounds, Tatum is out of the game.
In terms of regular season record, the Bucks narrowly won 2 games, lost one game in overtime, and lost one game. If you remove the number of games in which both sides have key players absent, the second and third games are relatively valuable, and in the case of both sides are neatly organized, the Celtics win at home and lose away from home, it should be said that the Celtics are stronger.
From the perspective of lineup alignment, the Bucks' interior line of Lopez + Portis vs. Celtics Horford + Theis + Gwey + Lowe. The interior should be said to be on par, Portis' offense is now excellent, while the Celtics' interior is relatively defensive. In an interview today, Uduka said that Horford is specially tailored for the alphabet brother.
Frontal duel bucks alphabet brother vs. Celtics Tatum + Brown, which is similar to the Nets' series, but Durant is the exclusive double probe front, but alphabet brother is younger, more impactful, and physical condition is stronger than Durant after the major injury. Overall, the Celtics still have the upper hand, but the advantage is not as pronounced as it was against the Nets in the first round. However, there is one factor to consider, because the Bulls are relatively weak, alphabet brother in the first round of the playoffs is obviously closed to play, that is, he still has a lot of room to rise.
Backcourt vs. Bucks Holliday + Allen + Matthews vs. Celtic Smart + White + Pret Richard. The Bucks in the backcourt should have had the upper hand, but Middleton's injury timeout brought the two sides very close, Smart and Holliday are both offensive and defensive all-round guards, and Allen not only defended well in the first round of the playoffs, but also shot a very high three-point shooting rate, and he is expected to cause trouble for the Celtics.
Budenhold was last year's championship manager and has more coaching experience than Uduka, but Uduka, although this year is the first time to be a head coach, has also led the Celtics to the second-largest regular season record in the East.
From the above situation, I think the strength of the two sides is still very close, and the Celtics have one more home stadium, which is expected to become a key factor in determining the outcome of the game. I think there is a possibility of playing a full 7 games in this group of duels, and my prediction is that the Celtics will advance 4-3. Thank you for reading, welcome to like and follow, and leave your valuable comments.