Boston Celtics: 3 intriguing questions vs undefeated Milwaukee Bucks

How the stars could impact the game

We don’t yet know whether Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to play. He was in the concussion protocol as of Monday night, and there has been no update at the time of this writing.

Him not playing would not mean this isn’t a game. The Bucks are an insane +18.5 per 100 possessions with Antetokounmpo on the floor (184 minutes), but are +10.8 per 100 possessions with him sitting (152 minutes). They have other creators, and they’ve been scorching hot from deep. As important as Antetokounmpo is to what they do, they are still playing like an elite team without him.

That being said…if the Greek Freak plays, you will notice him in every facet of the game. He is so athletic and so skilled that the entire defense reacts when he has the ball in his hands (and he’s a monster cutting to the basket, too). If you haven’t seen him yet this year, you’ll be shocked by how much bigger and stronger he looks after bulking up this offseason. You can’t say enough about him; he’s an insanely impactful player on both ends of the floor.

The Boston Celtics are fortunate to have multiple options to throw at him. Semi Ojeleye hasn’t played too many minutes this year, but had success in the playoffs against Giannis, as Simon Pollock wrote about extensively for CelticsBlog. Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford will probably all take turns guarding him.

On the other side, Celtics fans have to be thinking about their own star: Kyrie Irving. Irving doesn’t seem to be physically impaired, but also hasn’t found his way back to elite scoring yet. Part of this is probably because he’s trying to get everyone involved, but part is just him struggling. He’s in the 6th percentile (very bad) in points per shot attempt among combo guards after being in the 91st percentile (very good) among point guards last season, per Cleaning the Glass.

You have to expect that he’s going to snap out of this funk at some point. It’d be really helpful if that could happen against the team that’s been the best in basketball so far.