Celtics or Bucks: Who Controls the East Come Playoff Time?

Thursday night, the Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum, ending the season series in favor of Boston, 2-1. But this was no ordinary Celtics win.

The Celtics won 140-99 behind a combined 70 points from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The 41 point win made this the second largest regular-season margin for any team over the top-seeded team in NBA history.

Tatum’s 40 point night gave him his 11th 40-point game of the season. He did so on eight made threes out of ten attempts.

Giannis scored 24 points, but needed 27 shot attempts to do so. His 42% shooting against the Celtics this season marks the lowest percentage he’s shot against a team the Bucks have played multiple times.

The Bucks still hold the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, and the best record in the NBA, but the Celtics remain on their heels. The teams are now separated by just one and a half games in the standings.

The Celtics’ rout over the Bucks Thursday night made this rivalry a bit more interesting. Sure, the Bucks have been the better season and Giannis Antetokounmpo has certainly deserved to be a leading competitor for the Most Valuable Player award, but which team would really win a four-game series.

If the Bucks were to host the Celtics in the Eastern Conference, which is where the teams would have to meet should they remain the one and two seeds in the East, respectively, who would be victorious? The Bucks would be the host, and feature the best player in the series, but are the Celtics a bad matchup for Milwaukee?

It certainly seems so. In the three games between the two teams, the Celtics have won two, both of which came behind 40+ point nights from Jayson Tatum. In the Bucks’ lone win this season over the Celtics, which ended in an overtime thriller, neither Tatum nor Brown suited up for that game.

Keep in mind, the Celtics also beat the Bucks in seven games last year to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Bucks forward Khris Middleton did not play the entire series due to an MCL sprain, but will a potential playoff matchup between the two teams end differently?

Middleton hasn’t looked like the same scoring threat he once did. In just 31 games this season, he’s averaged just 15.4 points on 44% shooting from the field.

However, Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez have looked like better versions of themselves this year. Lopez has upped his scoring 3.2 points per game, is averaging 2.5 blocks, and has missed just two games all season.

Holiday has flourished as two-way player. Apart from his impenetrable perimeter defense, Holiday is averaging 19.2 points a night, and even exploded for a 51 point game on Wednesday.

While the Celtics certainly imposed their will on Thursday night, the Bucks do deserve some credit. Coming in on a back-to-back game night, coach Mike Budenholzer could have easily elected to bench super Giannis Antetokounmpo and possibly even the rest of their starters.

Instead, Budenholzer played all of his cards, even playing rotational piece Jae Crowder, who was dealing with a calf injury.

If these two were to meet in the NBA playoffs, it’s almost a certainly that the series would go to six or seven games. Both teams are simply too talent-loaded to not win at least two games.

It’s important to mention that the Philadelphia 76ers also pose a significant threat to win the Eastern Conference. As the likely three seed, the Celtics could potentially face the 76ers in the second round of the playoffs and be forced to contain leading MVP candidate Joel Embiid.

A series between the Bucks and Celtics may not deem a winner on performance alone. If the Celtics faced the 76ers in the second round, Boston may be overmatched against Philadelphia and stars Embiid and James Harden. Or, the Celtics would come out of that series exhausted and nursing injuries.

The Celtics and Bucks are closer than just what the record shows. The Bucks may have been the better regular season performer, but the Celtics have their number head-to-head. In the end, itt might come down to the play of stars Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo.