A Slice Of Sully: Are We In For Another 7-Game Showdown For Celtics-Bucks?
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks will square off in the NBA Playoffs for the second straight postseason, but this year's matchup will be very different than last year's seven game showdown.
While many expect the series to go seven games, both teams are a lot different then the two that battled last year. The Celtics will have both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward on the floor this time around. The Bucks are still led by MVP-candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo, but his supporting cast is much better than what he had last year, and he now has Mike Budenholzer calling the shots on the bench. Milwaukee can pretty much do it all, which is why they're the one-seed in the East.
It appears the Celtics have righted the ship, though they were far from perfect in their first-round sweep of the Pacers. And this year, they won't have homecourt advantage over the 60-win Bucks. WBZ-TV sports producer Scott Sullivan and Dan Roche broke down the East Semis matchup in the latest edition of A Slice Of Sully, and like last year, they see this series going the distance.
"I think it's probably another seven-game series, and this time the Celtics are going to have to win it on the road," said Sully. "That's going to be tough. I still think they can do it, it's just a matter of will it happen or won't it happen."
Not knowing which Celtics team will show up on a nightly basis was the biggest issue with Boston during the regular season, and now they have to go against one of the best players on the planet. No one can really stop Giannis, who hit 58 percent of his shots and averaged 27.7 points per game during the regular season. The dilemma for Brad Stevens is whether or not he should double The Greek Freak, or focus more on the three-point shooters Milwaukee has surrounded him with.
"I'm really curious to see how they defend Giannis. I imagine they'll go 1-on-1 for the most part and give him a lot of different looks. Semi Ojeley will get some run, Al Horford, Aron Baynes; they'll all get looks at him. But who knows how well they can contain him," said Sully.
Sully notes that the C's can't let Khris Middleton do what he did last postseason, when he averaged 24.7 points per game. But what the series will ultimately come down to is how both teams execute in crunch time.
"The Celtics, what they did last year in the playoffs and what they did against Indiana was execute late in ballgames. That's something that is going to be key against Milwaukee," said Sully. "I think these games will be tight and will come down to who executes down the stretch.
"Overall, I think the Celtics have a slight edge and will win in seven," concluded Sully.
Watch the full segment in the clip above and click here for previous episodes of "A Slice Of Sully."