Going into this series, the Boston Celtics appeared to be the clear favorites against the Milwaukee Bucks based on their first-round sweep of the Kevin Durant-led Brooklyn Nets, and because Milwaukee announced they would be without Khris Middleton for the entire series. Although the Bucks did incredibly well without Middleton in their first-round game against the Bulls, the Celtics are a different beast, one that has looked like the best team in the East at times.

But when Milwaukee took a 17-point road lead in Game 1, those assumptions about how this series would go quickly changed, and the Bucks continue to prove that maybe missing out on Middleton isn’t so. severe. The Bucks have already taken care of the hardest part, winning at least the first two games on the road, now it’s up to the Celtics to win the next game or they could be heading for a dangerous situation when this series returns to Milwaukee .

Ahead of Game 2 between the Celtics and Bucks, here’s everything you need to know.

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Milwaukee Bucks

• When: Tuesday May 3 | 7 p.m. ET
• Or: TD Garden — Boston
• TV: DTT | Direct: DTT app
• Odds: BOS-190; MIL+160; O/U 215 (via Caesars Sportsbook)

Scenarios

Celtics: Boston quickly realized that the Bucks weren’t the Nets and consequently dropped out of Game 1 of the series. The biggest adjustment the Cs need to make in Game 2 is to better contain everyone not named Giannis. While Boston will show several different defensive patterns against Antetokounmpo, slowing him down is incredibly difficult, so if that doesn’t work, the Celtics need to focus on shutting down Jrue Holiday, Bobby Portis and Grayson Allen. This trio combined for 51 points, as they feasted on the 12 assists given out by Giannis in the opener. Boston will have to live with Giannis getting his numbers, but he won’t win many games if Holiday drops 25 points and Portis fires. out of 15 of his own.

deer: Milwaukee must be pretty happy with how the team played at both ends of the field in Game 1. While Tatum had 21 points and six assists, Jaylen Brown struggled to get things going, shooting just 4 of 13 from the field. He probably won’t have many more games like that, so the Bucks will have to make sure they don’t get burned down by Tatum and Brown in the future. The Bucks maintained their dominance on the glass and capitalized on Boston turnovers, generating 27 points on Celtics giveaways. Getting out in transition is something the Bucks excel at and if they keep forcing Boston to make mistakes, they’ll keep the momentum going.

Prediction

I don’t think anyone expected the Bucks to beat the Celtics by 12 points in Game 1 on the road. But as Milwaukee asserted its dominance, I expect Boston to bounce back with a few tweaks to even this streak. To take: Celtics -4.5