Boston’s offense struggled to get much of anything as Milwaukee picked up a win.
The Milwaukee Bucks have drawn first blood in their Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Boston Celtics. Despite the game taking place in Beantown, the defending champions were able to take home court away from the 2-seed in the Eastern Conference behind a stellar defensive performance en route to a 101-89 win. A cagey first quarter saw both teams rely on huge runs to create some separation. Boston landed the first haymaker halfway through the frame, as the team scored eight consecutive points and got the crowd at TD Garden rocking. As they’ve done so many times over the years, though, the Bucks were able to take that punch, compose themselves, and strike back emphatically. A dunk by Jaylen Brown in which he rose over Giannis Antetokounmpo saw the Celtics go up by seven, at which point Milwaukee ripped off a 10-0 run to quiet the crowd and find themselves with a 27-24 lead after 12 minutes. Throughout the first half, the Buck defense made life tremendously difficult for Boston. The team’s top two offensive players, Brown and Jayson Tatum, combined for 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting prior to the break, while the Celtics shot 16-for-47 (34.8 percent) from the field heading into the locker room. That mixed with a stellar performance in the first half by Antetokounmpo (14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) and the team connecting on 10 of their 20 attempts from three gave Milwaukee a 56-46 lead at the half.
