Celtics rest starters in 2nd half of Bucks 135-102 blowout: 5 takeaways

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Celtics rest starters in 2nd half of Bucks 135-102 blowout: 5 takeaways

Posted By: jasabacklink January 12, 2024

Celtics

Thursday’s game got away from the Celtics, and they never came close to getting it back.

Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard fouls Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in Milwaukee. AP Photo/Morry Gash

The Celtics got demolished by the Bucks on Thursday, falling 135-102 in Milwaukee.

Here are the takeaways.

1. If you watched Thursday’s beatdown and you are still actively seeking out and reading a recap, a tip of the cap to you and our genuine thanks. You are strong among Celtics fans.

If you missed Thursday’s beatdown, our congratulations, and yes, the score you saw above is real, and actually, the Celtics’ reserves — who played the entire second half after Joe Mazzulla waved the white flag just 24 minutes into the contest — made a 33-point loss look a little more respectable. The Celtics got absolutely pummeled.

There’s not a lot to break down schematically. There were a number of mitigating factors, and frankly, Thursday’s was a somewhat inevitable schedule-loss. The Celtics were on the second night of a home-and-road back-to-back, which is difficult, but they are good at back-to-backs. The bigger issue was that the home-and-road back-to-back came at the end five-games-in-seven-nights stretch which included three cities in the past four nights, and it came after a difficult overtime game in which the starters all played extended minutes. Add to that the fact that the Celtics’ opponent was a well-rested contender in desperate need of a victory, and the recipe for disaster was already prepared and sitting in the refrigerator. All the Bucks needed to do was turn on the stove.

That’s not to say the Celtics should feel good about Thursday’s result. A 33-point loss matches their largest defeat of the last 21 years, and the Bucks evened the season series, which could matter when playoff seeding rolls around.

But any Celtics fan whose blood pressure is through the roof over the loss should consider it in context. Does the season the Celtics have put together so far suggest that Thursday’s loss is part of a pattern? Or does it seem more like an aberration that can be pretty easily explained by the fact that the Celtics had to fight through an overtime win against one of the best teams in the NBA just 24 hours prior, more than 1,000 miles away?

Celtics teams of the past few years might not have earned that benefit of the doubt. We would contend here that this year’s team has. As long as it doesn’t become a pattern, a game like Thursday will (and should) quickly be forgotten.

2. The game was so bad, the TNT broadcast actually cut away for a while to a game between the Knicks and the Mavericks (who didn’t even have Luka Doncic on the floor) … in which the Mavericks also had a double-digit first-half lead. The broadcast returned to Celtics-Bucks for the fourth quarter.

The NBA has created new rules about teams allowing stars to rest during games that are on national TV, which makes some sense with new TV deals on the horizon, but the league set itself up for failure by making the Celtics travel from Indiana on Monday to Boston on Wednesday and BACK to Milwaukee on Thursday, and then putting Thursday’s contest on TNT. Whether or not you excuse the Celtics for their performance, you could see it coming. Play stupid scheduling games, win stupid scheduling prizes.

Incidentally, the Celtics were the second-worst blowout of the night: The Thunder beat the Blazers by a staggering score of 139-77.

3. The Celtics’ starters were 0-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half. The Bucks, meanwhile, shot 56.5 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range over the course of the entire game. There’s not much to break down schematically, but if you’re looking for some analysis, the Celtics’ inability to knock down shots in the first half played an enormous part in the 35-6 (35-6!!) run the Bucks put together spanning the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, which gave them a 56-23 lead the Celtics would never even come close to challenging.

4. Jrue Holiday was honored by the Bucks with a tribute video and a standing ovation. Holiday — who won a championship with the Bucks in 2021 and made an All-Star team last year — stood and acknowledged the crowd but didn’t appear particularly emotional.

“I’m on to better things,” Holiday told reporters on Wednesday.

5. The Celtics now travel back home for a game against the Rockets on Saturday, as Ime Udoka makes his return to the TD Garden for the first time since he was suspended by the organization for the 2022-23 season just three days prior to Media Day in 2022, ushering in the Joe Mazzulla era.

The reaction to Udoka will be fascinating. He led the team to its first Finals appearance since 2010 and clearly seemed to connect with players, but his indiscretions — which remain somewhat mysterious — put the franchise in an incredibly tenuous position. A year later, the Celtics (Thursday’s result aside) are a juggernaut and have their best shot at a title in more than a decade.

Udoka found a landing place, but like Jrue Holiday, the Celtics are on to better things.

The game tips off at 7:00 p.m.