NBA playoffs on Apr. 22: Bucks sweep Pistons to meet Celtics

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The two NBA playoff games on Monday ended differently. The Milwaukee Bucks, as expected, beat the Detroit Pistons 127-104 at Little Caesars Arena, sweeping the series. They'll meet the Boston Celtics in the Eastern semi-finals. In the other game, however, the Utah Jazz claimed a surprising victory against the Houston Rockets 107-91 at Vivint Smart Home Arena, extending the series to at least Game 5 in Houston.

Bucks are coming, are the Celtics ready?

Jayson Tatum #0 and Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics guard Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks in the game at the Fiserv Forum, February 21, 2019. /VCG Photo

Detroit now has the longest record for losses in NBA playoff history with 14 in a row. It's also their third time in a row being swept in the first round of the playoffs. Despite the sweep, they didn't give up and even managed to lead 62-56 after the first half, thanks to their new defense of focusing on closing 3-pointers.

However, the other result of such tactics was that the Pistons forced the best out of Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak dropped a career-high 41 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Twenty-four points of happened in the second half and he made 15 out of his 20 free throws.

Brook Lopez #11 of the Milwaukee Bucks blocks a shot by Andre Drummond #0 of the Detroit Pistons in the game at the Little Caesars Arena, April 22, 2019. /VCG Photo

In their four wins over Detroit, Milwaukee won by a total of 95 points, buried 50 3-pointers, and claimed 55 points on average per game in the paint. On defense, they have Brook Lopez who turns the team's restricted area into Fort Knox; they have Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton who are good enough for outside defense with their size, speed, power and wingspan; between the two layers of defense, the Bucks can rely on Antetokounmpo to be the "fill-in-the-blanks guy" with his help on defense.

So, do the Celtics have a solution for all these weapons? First, there's no way for them to compete with Milwaukee on offense. The only qualified, steady playoff-level scorer the Celtics have is Kyrie Irving and he is not good enough as a playmaker.

Players of the Boston Celtics guard Tyreke Evans #12 of the Indiana Pacers in the game at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, April 21, 2019. /VCG Photo

However, it's a different story on defense. Boston are probably the league's only team in possession of both remarkable resources and rich methods for defense. The team is flexible enough to have different defensive plans based on what opponent they're facing.

When dealing with the Bucks, the Celtics have strong enough lower bodies of Semi Ojeleye and Jaylen Brown to jam Antetokounmpo when he posts up; Al Horford can take on Lopez from under the rim to way out of the 3-pt line; Jayson Tatum is an underestimated one-on-one defender thanks to his size and wingspan; even Marcus Morris and Irving can play better defensive roles under coach Brad Stevens' system. The only disadvantage is that Boston's best defensive player Marcus Smart is still out due to injury.

Eric Bledsoe #6 of the Milwaukee Bucks guards Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics in the game at the Fiserv Forum, February 21, 2019. /VCG Photo

Since it's the Bucks they will meet, the Celtics will probably have both Horford and Baynes in the starting-lineup. One of them has to follow Lopez to the 3-pt line and the other must stay in the paint for Antetokounmpo. If Boston manageS to control Milwaukee's 3-pointers, force the Greek Freak to either make jump shots he's not accustomed to or score in an exhausting way, and drag the game into the slow, physical pace, Boston will rely on Irving to bring victory for them with his top isolation offense.

As for the Bucks, if they can explode in 3-pointers regardless of the Celtics' defense, they can win. The team's key to this series lies in the hands of Bledsoe, Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon, if he can return from injury on time. Bledsoe is strong and fast enough to give Irving a hard time on defense. His penetration can be a game-changer. Middleton's classical playing style of focusing on perimeter shooting is always the best offensive solution to playoff-level defense.

Rockets vs. Jazz: is this the start of a comeback?

Jae Crowder #99 of the Utah Jazz interacts with fans in the game they win against the Houston Rockets 107-91 at the Vivint Smart Home Arena, April 22, 2019. /VCG Photo

How did Utah win? For starters, they were more focused and assertive in the game. Utah forced Houston to commit 15 turnovers, limited their scoring in the paint to 22 points and led in rebounds 52-35. Donovan Mitchell got 19 points in the last quarter, and even Ricky Rubio dropped 18 points.

The Rockets had only themselves to blame because they started the fourth quarter 1-15 in scoring, their bench squad had in total five points and James Harden committed eight turnovers.

James Harden of the Rockets handles the ball in the game against the Rockets, April 22, 2019. /VCG Photo

Having claimed three consecutive wins, Houston understandably pulled their punches, or were not fully passionate for Game 4. Meanwhile, Utah is known for their toughness and resilience, maybe they forgot about it in the previous games, but the team finally picked it up when their backs were up against the wall.

However, one victory did not change the fact that the Jazz are still one loss away from being knocked out. It should also be pointed out that the Rockets sank 17 3-pointers in Monday's game, meaning that their most lethal weapon still works well. Game 5 will happen at the Toyota Center on Wednesday and Houston are unlikely to spare Utah again at home.