WALTHAM, Mass. – When it comes to a scouting report on the Milwaukee Bucks, the long and short of it is real simple … they’re really long.
The Bucks and their pterodactyl-like length at seemingly every position is among the many reasons why they are team that Brad Stevens acknowledges has given his team fits.
And for a Celtics team with depth at seemingly every position, Milwaukee’s length is something that Boston doesn’t have an ideal match for countering.
But by no means is it the only factor of great significance heading into this all-important conference matchup.
Here’s a look at three other key factors to keep an eye on heading into Thursday night’s matchup.
POINTS IN THE PAINT
The Celtics have been a middle-of-the-pack team when it comes to allowing points in the paint. But lately, it seems more and more teams are having success scoring on the Celtics at or near the basket. For the season, they are 14th in the league while allowing 42.2 points in the paint per game. Milwaukee will pose the greatest challenge they’ll see, as was the case when the two played on Feb. 9. The Bucks won the game 112-111 in large part to a dominant 64-44 edge in points in the paint. A similar PITP deficit on Thursday will most likely render a similar ending for Boston.
3-POINT SHOOTING
Neither team shoots the ball particularly well from 3-point range, but it’s imperative that the Celtics not allow Milwaukee to get into any kind of long-range rhythm shooting the ball. Boston has limited opponents to 32.4 percent shooting 3s this season which ranks fourth in the NBA. Milwaukee has connected on 34.8 percent of its 3s which ranks 18th in the league. More telling is the fact that Milwaukee averages just 5.5 made 3s per game which ranks 29th in the NBA. Keeping Milwaukee at or around that figure should bode well for the team’s chances at winning.
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING
Some of Boston’s best play scoring outputs have come in the fourth quarter, so it’s not surprising that they rank among the league’s best in this category. Their 26.6 points scored in the first quarter is the third-highest average in the NBA. But far too often, Boston’s fourth quarter scoring has become more of a shoot-out than a shut-down affair due to them giving up 26.4 points in the fourth which ranks 27th in the league. As for the Milwaukee Bucks, they come into Thursday’s game as the worst scoring fourth-quarter team in the NBA. They average a league-low 23.4 points scored in the fourth. And like the Celtics, teams have averaged 26.4 points in the fourth against them as well.