The much anticipated Eastern Conference Semi Finals are here and we have two very interesting match ups as Milwaukee Bucks take on the Boston Celtics while Toronto Raptors take on the Philadelphia 76ers in what is expected to be two very entertaining series between four title contending teams!
Milwaukee Bucks vs Boston Celtics
Milwaukee take on Boston in hopes of getting revenge for the loss in the 1st round of the last year’s Playoffs when Boston defeated the Bucks in 7 despite missing Kyrie Irving and with home court advantage in their hands and the improvement overall from last year, Milwaukee should be feeling very confident about themselves entering this series.
Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee have not skipped a beat in the Playoffs so far this year. After securing the best record at 60-22 in the NBA in the Regular Season, Milwaukee showed why exactly they achieved that when they completely dismantled the Detroit Pistons in the 1st round of the Playoffs by sweeping them, beating them by double digits in each game winning games by an average margin of 23.8 points per game which ended up being the 2nd most lopsided series in NBA Playoffs history. Milwaukee have covered their pre-game given Handicaps in every game in the 1st round.
Milwaukee have continued to be solid on both ends of the floor in the 1st round as they’ve not only have had the 1st OFF RTG but also the 3rd best DEF RTG in the 4 game sweep translating their great regular season play right into the postseason and just to sum it up they have not deteriorated at all, in fact they’ve upped their game if anything so far in these Playoffs and it hasn’t been just Giannis playing great (26 ppg 12 rpg 3 apg in 28 mpg against Detroit) as everyone else have contributed too whether it’s Bledsoe, Middleton, Lopez and many other role players such as Connaughton, Brown, Ilyasova, Mirotic, they have all contributed and that has been Milwaukee’s biggest strength their depth which is going to be a huge key entering this series as they face another deep team in Boston especially when Giannis gets doubled or sits on the bench in which cases others will have to step up and make plays or knock down shots.
Entering this series, home court advantage is going to be a huge key for Milwaukee as the Bucks have one of the toughest home courts in the league having gone 33-8 here with only Denver having a better record and not to forget Bucks lost 3 of those games because Giannis didn’t play and in the Playoffs they absolutely killed the Pistons with a 35 and a 21 point win. Milwaukee have been near unbeatable at home and knowing that they have to lose here at least once to lose the series will be a huge advantage for the Bucks entering this series against the Celtics and looking at recent H2H, Milwaukee have been able to protect home court against Boston beating them 5 straight times here including all 3 times last year in the Playoffs.
Boston Celtics
After an up and down Regular Season, the Celtics showed some good signs in the 1st round as they took care of the Indiana Pacers also performing a first round sweep just like their opponents Milwaukee did to Detroit. However, it wasn’t quite as easy for the Celtics even with the series resulting in a sweep. Boston trailed 3 times at the Half and most games went down to the wire against Indiana bar Game 1 which Boston won quite easily in the end. The biggest difference for Boston was they simply had more fire power offensively than Indiana as Celtics had the better closers with Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Jayson Tatum and even Gordon Hayward all producing big moments in each game. Some would say that the outcome could’ve been much different had Indiana had Oladipo healthy and while that may be true, you simply cannot fault Boston for it as in the end they did the required job to advance into the 2nd round.
While Boston have been able to close games, their offense hasn’t exactly been to great overall in the Playoffs so far as they’re only 12th in OFF RTG which has to improve, but their defence has been their main calling card so far in this postseason as they have had the tied best defence in the Playoffs with Toronto. Boston have not allowed Indiana score 100 pts in any game in the postseason. Celtics have always been a great defensive squad under Brad Stevens and they have gone back to being that in the Postseason so far. Boston’s defence is going to be absolutely key in the 2nd round considering they’re facing one of the most explosive teams in the NBA in Milwaukee who can score so many ways with one of the most unguardable players in Giannis Antetokounmpo and if they were to win this series, defensively Boston have to turn it up another notch despite already being ELITE.
Offensively the Celtics cannot be slacking too much either like they did in 1st round at times. They are a team that tend to go on cold streaks which just cannot happen against the Bucks. Boston don’t lack players who can score they have Irving, Tatum, Brown, Horford, Hayward, Morris, Rozier can all get buckets, but we’ve seen their offense fail to click multiple times due to many reasons like adjusting to roles and lack of touches for certain players. Kyrie Irving will have to be huge, but he’ll also have to keep everyone else engaged too and it’ll have to be a collective effort for Boston on offense if they want to get the job done and go to ECF.
Another key is they cannot lose any home games in this series. Because the Celtics already have to win one game in Milwaukee as they don’t have home court advantage, they absolutely cannot afford to lose a single game at TD Garden as in that case they’d have to win multiple games in Milwaukee and given the Bucks record at home that is very unlikely. Celtics have been great at TD Garden in the past two post seasons winning 12 of their last 13 home games (2-0 this season) and they did take down the Bucks all 4 times last year here so looking back at all of that Boston should be confident about taking their home games in this series and if they do that, you never know they may be able to steal one in Milwaukee and win the series.
Regular Season H2H
Milwaukee won the season series 2-1 against Boston. Celtics won the first match up 117-113, however Milwaukee responded with a 120-107 win in Boston and then defeated the Celtics 98-97 after the all star break at home. It’s been a closely contested match up in the Regular Season with just one dominant win by the Bucks while the other two went down to the wire. Giannis Antetokounmpo has been dominant against the Celtics this year scoring 30+ in all 3 games while Milwaukee have done pretty well against Kyrie except the 1st meeting when he dropped 28, in the other two Kyrie scored 37 pts total on 16/47 shooting and if the Bucks can keep Kyrie this quiet in the Playoffs, it’s safe to say they’ll be in great position to win.
What to expect in the series
We can anticipate a very closely contested match up here. Yes, Milwaukee have been the much better team this season and have looked absolutely unstoppable in the postseason whereas Boston have shown vulnerability despite their own sweep, but the experience that the Celtics possess with players like Irving, Horford, Morris, Hayward, even the young guns like Tatum and Brown who went to ECF last year you simply cannot underestimate the lower seeded team here although it is fair to label them as underdogs. We have two of the best defensive squads, two of the best offensive players, two very deep teams facing off each other and despite a 11 win difference in the Regular Season, we’re probably going to see a long series that could go 6/7 games.
The biggest difference here is the fact that Milwaukee are a more fluid offensive team as they’re simply much more consistent on that end whereas Boston despite all the talent have a tendency to go into droughts which could be very costly if that were to happen in this series because despite them getting away with a few games against Indiana where they didn’t look good offensively, they won’t be able to do that against the Bucks as they do have their superstar Giannis healthy and they do have multiple other players who can carry an offense like Bledsoe and Middleton unlike the Pacers did.
In this series we’re going to pick Bucks in 6 simply because they look like the better overall team. Boston can match them on the defensive end, but offensively the Bucks are clicking much better, their players are more adjusted to their roles and their chemistry is on a higher level than Boston and that’ll prove to be the difference. Kyrie and co will put together a couple of good wins and give the 1st seeded team a good series, but Milwaukee will end up winning this series and get revenge for last year.
Toronto Raptors vs Philadelphia 76ers
Two division rivals, two title contenders, multiple all-stars, what more can you ask from a series? Toronto and Philadelphia face off in the Playoffs for the first time since their famous 2001 Series when VC and AI went at it for 7 games! Toronto will look to make their 2nd ever ECF appearance while for the 76ers they look to make their first since 2001.
Toronto Raptors
It’s been a great year for Toronto with a 58-24 record, 2nd seed and they look better than they ever had in their franchise history as many believe this is their greatest ever team assembled and no wonder why by just looking at the way they played in the 1st round. Toronto after blowing Game 1 to Orlando have bounced back with 4 wins and won 4-1 for the first time winning a best of 7 series in under 6 games in franchise history and they’ve done it by dominating both ends on the floor.
Raptors defensively have been absolutely unbelievable in the Playoffs so far with the tied best defensively rating with Milwaukee. After they gave up 104 pts in Game 1, Toronto held the Magic to under 100 in the next 4 games (82 93 85 and 96) which really shows how locked in they are on this end considering how rare teams get held under 100 pts nowadays.
The play of Kawhi Leonard has been huge for the Raptors. He has been looking like the DPOY version of himself again, but the difference that he made has to be on the offensive end. He’s been putting up 27.8 ppg on 55.6% shooting so far in this postseason and has already dropped a couple of 30 pt games alongside a 27 pt game on 8/11 shooting. Kawhi has been extremely consistent and has scored at a high rate and that’s something Toronto have missed in recent years as DeRozan and Lowry have never produced this type of consistency when they were the top 2 options. Now with Kawhi, also Siakam being great, other players knocking down shots the job on Kyle Lowry is also much easier and he doesn’t have to score at will anymore allowing him to have a solid post season so far too.
Home Court advantage again in this series could prove to be a huge key and Toronto of course have it in this series. Raptors have been great at home this year with a 34-10 record including Playoffs and they have beaten the 76ers 13 straight times in this Arena including beating them by double digits both times this season. These record all work in Toronto’s favour big time and considering how well they’ve done against the 76ers here, having home court advantage could be massive for the Raptors.
Marc Gasol’s defense against Joel Embiid is another big key for the Raptors. Gasol completely neutralised Orlando’s star Center Nikola Vucevic keeping him at 11 ppg on 36% shooting as primary defender. Marc Gasol has been absolutely sensational on that end. Now Embiid is a completely different beast and Gasol won’t hold him to 11 ppg, but Gasol definitely is one of the few guys in the NBA who can put Embiid off his game due to how great he is defensively and make him frustrated which would be a huge turning point in the series benefiting Toronto.
Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia have also won their series in 5 games and also did it after losing Game 1 to the Brooklyn Nets after which they bounced back with 4 wins in a row. Sixers have started to really click in the last few games and are emerging as a legitimate title contender right now as their chemistry is improving with every game. Sixers have been very good offensively, 3rd best in the Playoffs and their stars have come to play in this postseason so far.
Joel Embiid has played at a very high level in the 1st round scoring 24.8 ppg while adding 13.5 rpg 3.5 apg and shooting 50% from the field, he was an absolute monster in the 1st round and he did all of that playing with a hurt knee which we’ll get into later as it is one of the concerns for Philly entering this series.
The keys for the 76ers in this series is they HAVE to contain Kawhi Leonard. Expect Jimmy Butler to be the primary defender on him with Ben Simmons potentially getting opportunities to try and disrupt him with his length. Kawhi has been extremely good in the Playoffs as already mentioned and Philadelphia cannot allow him to have the type of series he had in the 1st round because if they let Kawhi cook, they will be in big trouble.
Furthermore, the health of Joel Embiid is going to be very important, he dominated Brooklyn but also the Nets were missing ED Davis and they just didn’t have enough rim protection. With that hurt knee and coming up against Marc Gasol, Joel is going to face a much more of a difficult task going up against one of the best defending bigs in the league. Joel has to get fully healthy for this series.
Another key is 76ers have to get stops and get in transition to score. Sixers are at their best when they run out on fast breaks and it especially opens up Ben Simmons offensive game. If they get into half court offense against Toronto, the 76ers will be in big trouble because although they have players who can create their own shots and score, it will be easier to neutralise the 76ers in half court due to how limited Ben Simmons is offensively as we saw last year against Boston when they sagged off him whenever Sixers tried to run half court offense and they struggled.
Biggest concern for 76ers coming into this series has to be lack of bench depth. With Mike Scott now potentially out for a few games, Sixers are really short with Boban being the only consistent performer off the bench available. Philly will need guys like TJ McConnell and James Ennis to step up. Furthermore, Boban himself must continue to produce at a high level which will be tougher to do against Toronto given the rim protection Gasol, Siakam and Ibaka produce. Lack of bench depth could really hurt the 76ers in this series.
Regular Season H2H
Toronto have dominated the 76ers in the Regular Season winning the series 3-1 with all 3 wins coming by double digits while the lone loss came with Kawhi Leonard being out. Now Tobias Harris has not featured in any of those match ups for the 76ers, but at the same time Marc Gasol hasn’t featured in these match ups for Toronto either so it will be interesting to see how the teams adjust to each other with the new players.
Kawhi Leonard has torched the 76ers in all 3 match ups that he played against them scoring 31 36 and 24 points. Ben Simmons has struggled against Toronto in 3 of the 4 games as in the 3 losses he made a ridiculous 24 TURNOVERS! Ben will have to be much better in the Playoffs against this Raptors team for the Sixers to win for sure.
What to expect in the series
We’re going to back Toronto to win this series in 6 games for multiple reasons. Toronto have looked like the better team so far in these playoffs and things such as Embiid’s health, Sixers lack of depth on the bench whereas Toronto have better guys like VanVleet, Ibaka, Powell who will likely outplay the Sixers bench, Toronto being the suffocating defensive squad while also being very solid offensively with guys like Kawhi, Siakam, Lowry and others who can match Philly’s fire power, better chemistry and them having more experience are all huge factors entering this series.
There are two very crucial match ups in this series with Gasol taking on Embiid and Kawhi taking on Ben Simmons. Gasol has kept Embiid to 14 ppg on 34% FG in 5 H2H match ups while Kawhi has kept Simmons to 13 ppg and 8 TOPG in 3 H2H match ups. We can clearly see that Toronto are well equipped to deal with the Sixers stars and although Philly still have Butler, Redick and Harris, the Raptors also have Lowry, Green, Siakam and of course a deeper bench. Toronto will win this series with their defensive intensity and with Kawhi’s greatness. We expect Philly to take a couple of games at home, but in the end the Raptors are just a slightly better and match up well with Philadelphia as seen throughout this whole season.
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