Bucks, Celtics off to strong starts in East
The top of the Eastern Conference looks about as expected — with the Celtics and Bucks currently neck and neck for the lead.
Those fast starts have been anything but routine, however.
The Celtics suspended their coach before the season even started, but under interim choice Joe Mazzulla, they’re now on a seven-game winning streak and have the best record in the NBA. The Bucks won their first nine games, but recently they’ve had to deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s occasional absences. They’ve won two of three when he’s been out.
“It just shows our depth and how good of a team we truly are,” the Bucks’ Brook Lopez said recently. “Coach (Mike Budenholzer) — he said before, it’s like, it’s kind of exciting. Giannis gets to rest, refill his cup, and we get a chance to get better and see what we’re like without Giannis on the court, and get better in that way.”
The Celtics (11-3) and Bucks (10-3) don’t play each other until Christmas. For now, these two teams — who played a stirring seven-game playoff series in the second round last season — are bringing a bit of normalcy to the standings. That’s been largely absent in the West, where the Warriors are muddling along under .500 while the Jazz and Trail Blazers are around the top of the conference.
The Celtics went to the NBA Finals last season in Ime Udoka’s first season as coach. Then he was suspended for at least this season for violating team rules by having a relationship with a female staffer within the organization. Mazzulla took over and has the team rolling. The Celtics routed Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets 131-112 on Friday. On Monday night, the Celtics rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat the Thunder 126-122.
After falling just short of a title last season, the Celtics look tested and ready to contend again.
“These guys have been through a ton, and it helps them in a game like tonight where they really don’t have it going, and then they’ve got to turn it on on both ends of the floor and they did,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after Monday’s game. “So credit them. They went and got that one.”
The Celtics are No. 1 in the league in offensive rating, and the Bucks are No. 1 in defensive rating. The first time the Bucks played without Antetokounmpo this season was a little over a week ago against the Thunder. Lopez scored 25 points, Bobby Portis had 21 rebounds, Jrue Holiday had 13 assists — and the Bucks held the Thunder under 100 points to win by 14.
“I think we all knew obviously that we’d all have to chip in,” Lopez said. “Pretty much everyone came on, had an impact.”
These are the stretches that test a team over the course of an 82-game season, when injuries or just normal wear and tear leave a star player unavailable. That win over the Thunder gave the Bucks a 9-0 record, and since then, they have played twice more without Antetokounmpo, who has dealt with left knee soreness.
The Bucks split those two games. Ironically, they’ve lost the last two games they’ve played with Antetokounmpo, including Monday against the Hawks.
Still, they’ve shown they can win without their biggest star. Another team that’s done that of late is the Wizards, who have won four straight despite playing all of those games without Bradley Beal, who went through health and safety protocols.
Entering Tuesday night’s road game against the King, the Nets had won four of their last six — all without suspended guard Kyrie Irving.
And with Jacque Vaughn in place as the permanent head coach, the Nets are hopeful they have found the right leader after an ugly start to the season.