Facing elimination against the defending champs, the Boston Celtics got an all-time great performance out of Jayson Tatum to force a 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday Game 7 against the Milwaukee Bucks at the TD Garden. Tatum scored 46 points on 17-of-32 shooting in Boston’s 108-95 win to send the series back to Boston.
Former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was incredible, registering a double-double with 44 points and 20 rebounds, including a 14 for 15 showing at the free-throw line. Only Jrue Holiday and Pat Connaughton scored in double figures for Milwaukee as the Bucks converted 40.9% of field goal attempts and were 7 for 29 (24.1%) on 3-pointers.
While at times it seemed like a glorified one-on-one showdown, Tatum had help from Celtics teammates Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, who scored 22 and 21 points, respectively.
With home court on their side, the Celtics are favored by five points with an over/under of 206.5 as of this writing.
Milwaukee Needs Some Help
As great as Antetokounmpo is, and similarly to Luka Doncic in the Dallas Mavericks’ series, the playoffs have shown he isn’t enough to carry the Bucks. Khris Middleton’s knee injury is showing how important he is, at the very least, due to his impact on the defensive end.
Holiday has been solid for a Bucks offense that was the third-best scoring team at 115.5 points per game during the regular season. Connaughton had a nice showing, but Grayson Allen, Brook Lopez, and Wesley Matthews were nonexistent offensively in Game 6 and clearly didn’t get it done defensively.
That quartet needs to show they can space the floor, so Boston doesn’t condense the floor to try and keep Antetokounmpo out of the paint.
Boston Should Utilize Its Sidekicks
Time and again in the postseason, Tatum has showcased he is the guy the Celtics go to when they need a bucket, and he is delivered in big games. The real key is Brown as co-star, and Smart, who is having his best season as a true point guard, looks healthy after dealing with a quadriceps injury that held him out earlier in the series.
Boston had the league’s best defense in the regular season, ranking first in points allowed per game (104.5), opposing field goal percentage (43.4%), and opposing 3-point percentage (33.9%).
They clearly have found a blueprint to allow Antetokounmpo to do his thing, or at least make him make free throws, and take away the complementary players. Will that stay the same and work in Game 7?
Celtics vs. Bucks Betting Prediction
To this point, 59% of the money is on the Bucks to cover +5, and 63% of bets are on the over. For the series, the Celtics are 3-2-1 against the spread, and the under has hit four times.
Matchup history shows the Bucks are likely to lose as they are 3-12-1 against the spread in the last 16 meetings. Though, perhaps, that evens out. The Bucks are also 2-5 against the spread in the last seven in Boston.
Another intriguing reversal is that the over is 10-4 in the last 14 meetings and 17-7-1 in the last 25 meetings in Boston.
But it is the playoffs where possessions can run longer as teams try to get a decisive stop. We’ll go against the public and take the Celtics -5 and under 206.5.
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