The hip-pulling duo scored 33 points on 34 shots! The style of play is still the same for ten years, and the chain will be dropped when it encounters a strong team
The NBA regular season continues, and the battle for the top spot in the East officially begins, with the Celtics taking on the Bucks. The two teams played very closely in this game, and the strength shown at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends was also very close. At the end of the first quarter, the Celtics led by 12 points. Entering the second quarter, the Bucks slowly adapted to the rhythm of the game, and once chased the score behind to only 4 points in the final quarter. However, the Celtics withstood the pressure and defeated the Bucks 118-116 to win the battle for the top spot.
To tell the truth, the main reason why the Celtics were able to win in the slump of Holiday (1-of-8 shooting) was none other than the excellent play of the Big Three Tatum, Porzingis, and Brown. Brown played 35 minutes and finished with 26 points, two rebounds and eight assists on 10-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-5 three-pointers and 3-of-3 free throws. Tatum played 36 minutes and finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds on 7-of-17 shooting, including 2-of-9 three-pointers and 7-of-9 free throws. Porzingis played 26 minutes, shooting 9-of-15 and finishing with 21 points and six rebounds. The excellent performance of these three is undoubtedly the main reason why Celtic can win.
After talking about the Celtics, let's talk about the losing Bucks. Truth be told, although the Bucks lost the game, Lillard and Lopez performed remarkably. Lillard played 37 minutes and had 27 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Lopes played 33 minutes and had 28 points and seven rebounds. I believe that fans here will definitely ask, since Lopez and Lillard performed so well, why did the Bucks still lose the game? The answer to this question is very simple, that is, the Bucks' hip-pulling duo Brother Alphabet and Middleton have dropped the chain again.
He played 36 minutes, shooting 7-of-20 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line to finish with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists. Middleton played 28 minutes, shooting 4-of-14 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line to finish with 12 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Yes, you read that right, the two took a total of 34 shots, but only 33 points were exchanged for 34 shots. I believe that fans who have watched the game will know how awkward Middleton and Brother Alphabet played on the field. It is not an exaggeration to use the words "the offense is targeted, and the chain is dropped when the strong team encounters" to describe them.
On the offensive end, the Celtics' strategy to defend Antetokounmpo is very simple, which is not to let you get close to the basket to score, that is, not to let you have a chance to break through. As a result, what we saw was that Brother Alphabet's shot almost smashed the basket. The strategy to defend Middleton is to defend closely, not giving you open shots, and Middleton is also unable to find the crosshairs to shoot in the face of such defense. Speaking of which, I really want to say that Brother Alphabet and Middleton have been in the league for so long, and their style of play has not changed at all after "ten years". Especially Brother Alphabet, every season is such a problem, every season will be targeted, but every season Brother Alphabet will not change.
Say a thousand, say ten thousand. The Bucks team has now slowly become a "pseudo-strong team", and when facing a fish belly team, Brother Alphabet can kill all sides, but when he encounters a strong team, Brother Alphabet will drop the chain. Therefore, it is impossible for Lillard alone to win the championship.