Game 19 Preview: Celtics at Bucks

After a very impressive performance last night, the Boston Celtics (7-11) begin a home-and-home with the Milwaukee Bucks (2-13).

The Bucks have lost 11 straight games and sit in the basement of the Central Division. One of their two wins came against the Celtics back on November 1, a game in which the Celtics blew a 22-point lead. The Bucks are next-to-last in the league in scoring and rebounding. Their starting small forward, Caron Butler, missed last night's game with a swollen left knee. He is questionable for tonight's game.

On the other hand, the Celtics have won three of their last four games. Boston is still without Kelly Olynyk (ankle) and Courtney Lee (knee).


Projected lineups:

Celtics:
Avery Bradley
Jordan Crawford
Jeff Green
Jared Sullinger
Brandon Bass

Bucks:
Brandon Knight
O.J. Mayo
Ersan Ilyasova
Khris Middleton
Zaza Pachulia


Keys to the game:

1. Rebounding from the guards: Head coach Brad Stevens stressed after last night's game the importance of his guards rebounding the basketball. Over their last four games, that success has translated into wins. In their three wins over their last four, the guards have averaging 14 rebounds. In their one loss, the guards combined to grab 3 rebounds. In order to keep this going, it has to be all hands on deck on the boards.

2. The three: 25% of Milwaukee's points come off three-pointers. That might be a problem for them tonight. The Celtics own the best three-point defense in the league, holding opponents to a league-best 31.2% from beyond the arc. The C's need to continue that trend tonight.