Boston Celtics (50-16) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (30-38)
1pm CSN
It is rare to see Celtics nation get excited about a win over a pedestrian team like the Memphis Grizzlies. A few weeks of injury turmoil and .500 play clearly had taken its toll on the psyche of this fan base. Luckily for us the Celtics themselves have not been panicking, shaking off a sluggish first half and riding the return of Rajon Rondo, another tremendous performance by Leon Powe (Leon is making a career of having career nights these past few weeks) in addition to some contributions by the bench resulting in a 102-92 win.
Next up on the docket is a team fighting for its playoff life in the Milwaukee Bucks. If the season ended today the Bucks will sneak into the playoffs as an 8 seed but there are FIVE teams nipping at their heels for that spot, all within 1½ games.
Like most of the squads fighting for the final playoff spot, the Bucks have not been playing well lately. They are 3-9 in their last 12, going 3-5 at home over that stretch. To make matters worse, three of those losses came to playoff rivals (Knicks, Nets and Bulls).
Those results are particularly suspect for a Milwaukee team that generally plays well at home. They 19-14 at the Bradley Center for the year and nearly beat a healthy Celtic team there earlier this season without Michael Redd and Charlie Villanueva, falling short in their comeback against the Green, 102-97 in overtime.
The team’s offensive home/road splits are the most drastic I’ve seen in the league this year, averaging 104.4 points at home compared to just 95.3 points on the road. The Bucks FG shooting, 3 point shooting, rebounding, assists and other corresponding offensive categories also show sharp improvements at the Bradley Center.
Injuries to Michael Redd and more recently Andrew Bogut have clearly contributed to sidetracking this squad since the All Star Break. And while the offense has still been there in the team’s recent slump, the defense has dissipated under coach Scott Skiles with the team allowing 107 points a game in the last month and a half, a 10 point increase from earlier this year.
Three Things to Watch For
Rajon Rondo will be key in helping shut down what can be an explosive Milwaukee offense. Ramon Sessions had taken over the starting PG spot a few weeks back and has shown the capability to go off for 30 points on any given night, so Rondo’s ankle will be tested in trying to contain the 2nd year pro.
I look for Paul Pierce to have his hands full in defending Richard Jefferson for much of the afternoon. Like Friday night, I see Doc limiting Paul and Ray’s minutes once again to continue the try to refresh those two. That leaves some minutes where Bill Walker will likely have to step up and defend Jefferson.
Walker has shown flashes of consistency the past few games, especially on the offensive end. His defense however has left a lot to be desired at times, as he picked up 5 fouls Friday Night in only 20 minutes of play. Walker will have to pick up his defensive game to ensure Jefferson does not take over with Pierce out of the game.
Finally I have a sense that the Leon Powe domination tour will be making another positive showing in Milwaukee. Charlie Villanueva is arguably the Bucks 2nd best healthy player right now but he is definitely not known for his defensive game. Leon should be able to take advantage of this and post another double-double down low.
With Ray and Paul resting more, my only concern about Leon has become his extremely high minutes (42 Friday night) in the past couple games. Hopefully his legs will still be fresh and he will be able to maintain his phenomenal play over this stretch.
Another extremely winning game for the C’s to help get them get back on the winning track. However they likely can’t afford to sleepwalk through much of the 1st half today like the Memphis game. The Bucks can put up a lot of points in a hurry so the C’s need to defensive intensity to be high from the onset to keep Milwaukee out of rhythm.
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