“They’re gonna have to start looking to double team him” - Ric Bucher questions if the Boston Celtics can defend Giannis Antetokounmpo, says Giannis has another level to him
FOX Sports' Ric Bucher believes Giannis Antetokounmpo poses a greater challenge than even Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Bucher argued that the Boston Celtics lack the personnel to defend Antetokounmpo, stating:
"There's no chance that Al Horford is going to be able to defend this Giannis, so they're gonna have to start looking to double team him, much like Chicago did.
"And as a result of what Giannis (Antetokounmpo) has demonstrated is that he can play out of that mid post he can get guys, he can find guys and he can score from there with mid range shots, enough to keep them honest."
Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks will begin their series against the Boston Celtics on Sunday. It's a heavily anticipated matchup between the Eastern Conference's second and third seeds.
More than the Celtics' defense, Bucher believes, the incoherent mess that was the Brooklyn Nets' season was to blame for the sweep. He said:
"I just believe that Boston for what they did against Brooklyn, I believe everybody's taking that as a referendum on how good their defense is and make no mistake, their defense is really good, but I believe that it's been inflated by the issues that Brooklyn."
Antetokounmpo and company won their first-round series against the Chicago Bulls 4-1.
Preview: Giannis Antetokounmpo's Bucks vs. Jayson Tatum's Celtics
The Boston Celtics will face the reigning champions starting tomorrow. The two teams tied their regular-season series with two wins apiece, and the Bucks won their latest matchup on April 7.
The Bucks are heading into the semifinals without Khris Middleton.
Middleton suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and is expected to be out for the entire series. As reported by Shams Charania, Middleton might not even make a comeback for the Conference finals if the Bucks manage to advance.
The left MCL injury of Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton is a Grade 2 sprain and he is expected to miss the entire second-round series vs. Celtics, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The recovery of Grade 2 MCL places a potential Conference Finals in jeopardy for him as well.
The key matchups to look out for will be Giannis-Tatum, Smart-Holiday and Horford-Lopez.
With Middleton out, Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton and Bobby Portis Jr. need to step up. The Bucks will need production from their bench in order to beat a fully healthy Boston roster brimming with confidence after sweeping the Brooklyn Nets.