Although the Boston Celtics put up a fight, Thursday night’s 98-97 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks was far from pretty.
From the start, the shooting was off, which played a part in the Celtics logging a single-game season-low 38.2 field goal percentage in the loss. This marks the sixth time in the 2018-19 season the Celtics shot worse than 40 percent from the floor.
The Celtics didn’t have their best night from long range, posting a 35 three-point percentage, but far from their worst. Those numbers are a result of the Bucks’ tough interior defense. Brad Stevens echoed a similar sentiment to reporters in Milwaukee.
We couldn’t buy a bucket there for stretches and that hurt us. And they did a great job. They’re great at the rim. And we struggled in the first at the rim against them, as you do because they’re all coming. And then we were a little better at kicking it out and finding the right guys in the second.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s savage block on Jayson Tatum’s fastbreak dunk attempt in the fourth quarter was one of the Bucks’ nine blocks in the win. That’s the ninth time an opponent has blocked nine or more of the Celtics’ shots in a game this year.
