What to think about last Saturday's game... surprising but not surprising. What i mean by that statement is that game leading up to overtime my have been surprising to some but not to me. The Milwaukee Bucks came into the contest on a 3 game upward swing and it seemed like a young team was determined to keep that momentum going against the defending champs. The play of the young Bucks definitely threw the Celtics off guard from the start.Toward the end, emotions got high which made the game very entertaining to watch.
In the beginning, it seemed the Celtics could not match the intensity the Bucks were putting out. I don't know about you but while i was watching, I couldn't help but think... we are in for it tonight. That's what happens when you are the defending champs, you have to bring it every night. You get a determined team like Milwaukee who is getting better every game and they really want to see if they have what it takes against a seasoned team, they will go all out. It should be a lesson to "The Champs".
Give credit to Bucks rookie Mbah a Maute who contributed by adding 14 points and 9 rebounds to the effort. He provided instant offense for them along with Bogut and Ridnour. Veteran Richard Jefferson also added 14 points. The problems the Celtics were dealing with was their interior defense. The inside points are as following: Bucks 22, Celtics 42... come on now. Im not taking anything away from Bucks, they executed well inside, but the Celtics have no excuses. For the ones who are wondering why they had DOUBLE the inside points... it may have something to do with Perkins's 2 points and 4 rebounds. I don't know you tell me.
There were some positives to be mentioned. Leading scorer and team captain Paul Pierce dropped 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Pierce needs to continue providing leadership by leading by example like he has done the last couple of games. Also to mention, Pierce was 4-4 from three point land. Allen also contributed by adding 27 points and 4 rebounds to the close win. Perkins and Rondo in some ways under-performed, Rondo having 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Perkins performance cannot be accepted. He must do better.
Garnett's performance was consistent as usual but the incident with Andrew Bogut was the climax to the game. Bogut ended up getting ejected which was some what undermining to the fact of Garnett's reaction. Later on, Garnett fouled out in overtime which was probably bittersweet to Bucks fan. I personally believe that if Bogut was not ejected, the outcome would have been very different. Probably different for the worse.
Next game: At home against New York Knicks.
note: Garnett is suspended for 1 game for "punch" against Milwaukee Bucks' Andrew Bogut.
