The No. 1 seeded Boston Celtics, who are 54-14 and 10 slots ahead of the 44-24 Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern
league, appear to have secured the top seed in the league. The Bucks, who are presently ranked as the second seed in
the conference, will be without one of their All-NBA players. Milwaukee has experienced a turbulent season for a No.
2 seed. Fans and analysts alike disregarded Lillard’s age and defensive flaws when the team traded All-Star combo
guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for All-NBA superstar point guard Damian Lillard in the summer,
raising expectations of Milwaukee’s ceiling to legitimate title contenders.
However, Lillard was added by the Bucks much later than expected, after their summer trade deadline had passed.
Milwaukee had taken a number of steps to reinvest in Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, their starting pitchers who
were over thirty years old. It has been difficult to pay Middleton at least $93 million (worth up to $102.2 million with
incentives) over three years since he hasn’t been able to see the floor much in the last several seasons. But for the
most part of his six seasons with the team, Lopez has stayed the surprisingly resilient 3-and-D stretch five option.
The Bucks signed minimal deals to acquire shooting guard Malik Beasley, who is already starting, and brought back
reserve forward Jae Crowder.
Milwaukee gave up a great deal of its perimeter defense by trading for Holiday and Grayson Allen in the late game in
order to acquire an aging Lillard. Adrian Griffin, a first-time head coach, was also signed by the organization.
Superstar Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo appeared to be motivated by the acquisitions of Lillard and
Griffin, as he signed a three-year, $175.9 million contract extension in late October.
Griffin’s Coach of the Year argument disintegrated really rapidly. Because Lillard and Malik Beasley aren’t exactly
stopping anyone, the Bucks’ once-heralded wing defense crumbled from season to season. After a while, Milwaukee
parted ways with Griffin in January and hired Doc Rivers, a legendary head coach of the Eastern Conference who
had appeared to be enjoying his free time as an ESPN broadcaster and podcast host at The Ringer. The club’s point-
of-attack defense was immediately improved by Rivers (the signing of Rivers staple Patrick Beverley helped, too).
Boston has been doing really well, though. The Celtics, led by two-way starting center Kristaps Porzingis and,
shockingly, Holiday himself, who was acquired in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers after he arrived there as
collateral in the Lillard trade, were strengthened by the addition of key rotation players Derrick White (who is
himself a fringe All-Star) and former All-Star center Al Horford. Since then, when healthy, Boston has dominated the
conference on all sides of the ball. Its execution of late-game offensive plays has been its lone weakness.
However, Boston has been doing incredibly well. Key rotation players Derrick White (a fringe All-Star himself) and
former All-Star center Al Horford bolstered the Celtics, who were led by two-way starting center Kristaps Porzingis
and, shockingly, Holiday himself, who was acquired in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers after he arrived there
as collateral in the Lillard trade. Since then, Boston has ruled the conference on all fronts of the ball when healthy.
Its only shortcoming has been how poorly it has executed late-game offensive plays.
The last game the Bucks played was on Sunday, when they defeated the Phoenix Suns 140-129 in a thrilling game
that Antetokounpo did not see. Starting in his place, Jae Crowder scored eighteen points on seven of eleven field
goals (four of six from beyond the arc), drew two rebounds, and stole two baskets. It appears likely that Crowder will
be chosen once more. He’s still capable of doing it in spurts, even though he’s not the exceptional 3-and-D role player
he was with two Finals-bound teams, the 2020 Miami Heat and the 2021 Phoenix Suns. He is not, however, Giannis
Antetokounmpo.
