What to know about the Boston Celtics, who will play the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the NBA playoffs

The Boston Celtics, a franchise that has won 17 NBA championships, will be up next for the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. Boston and Milwaukee both finished 51-31 this season, with the Celtics earning the No. 2 seed and home-court advantage over No. 3-seeded Milwaukee on account of tiebreakers.

Here's what to know about Milwaukee's opponent in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Possible starters for Celtics

• Jayson Tatum (26.9 points per game, 8.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists)

• Jaylen Brown (23.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 3.5 apg)

• Marcus Smart (12.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 5.9 apg)

• Al Horford (10.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 3.4 apg)

• Daniel Theis (7.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.0 apg)

Top reserves

• Robert Williams (10.0 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.0 apg)

• Grant Williams (7.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.0 apg)

• Payton Pritchard (6.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.0 apg)

• Derrick White (11.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.5 apg)

Schedule

Game 1 - Sunday, May 1 at Boston, noon. (ABC)

Game 2 - Tuesday, May 3 at Boston, 6 p.m. (TNT)

Game 3 - Saturday, May 7 at Milwaukee, 2:30 p.m. (ABC)

Game 4 - Monday, May 9 at Milwaukee, 6:30 p.m. (TNT)

*Game 5 - Wednesday, May 11 at Boston, TBA (TNT)

*Game 6 - Friday, May 13 at Milwaukee, TBA (ESPN)

*Game 7 - Sunday, May 15 at Boston, TBA (TBA)

*if necessary

They just swept the Brooklyn Nets

Needless to say, the Celtics are playing good basketball right now after sweeping a Brooklyn Nets team that figured to be a tough first-round matchup for anyone (and a title contender in the eyes of many), given that Brooklyn boasted the talents of star players Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and maybe even midseason acquisition Ben Simmons.

But Simmons never saw the floor and the disappointing Nets couldn't even get a game in the only sweep of the NBA playoffs' first round this year. It's the first time Durant has been swept in any playoff series and the first time Irving has gone out in the first round. Granted, the Celtics won the four games only by a combined 18 points, but it still felt triumphant. Oddly, the Celtics had a poor record in close games during the regular season, but not so far in this postseason.

How did Boston do it? The Celtics reinforced their reputation as the league's best defensive team, led by the league's defensive player of the year in Marcus Smart, but star Jayson Tatum was superb in limiting Durant to 38.6% shooting.

They've been the best team in the league since January

Over the final 32 games of the season, Boston crushed teams, outscoring opponents by 14.8 points per 100 possessions.

A team that was once 23-24 closed the year by going 28-7, with a 4-0 start to the postseason thereafter. Perhaps it was jelling under first-year coach Ime Udoka, but it's not as if Boston has merely squeaked by in close games.

Robert Williams is returning, and that's only going to make Boston better

Big man Robert Williams returned to the court in the playoffs after a four-week absence because of a meniscus injury in late March. He played only 30 minutes over two games, but he'd been a major part of the Celtics' turnaround and figures to see increased playing time, especially with the extended rest following the end of Boston's first-round series.

Once he's back to full health, he'll no doubt return to the starting lineup. He's averaged close to a double-double this year with 2.2 blocked shots per game.

Jayson Tatum has taken a star turn

Tatum averaged nearly 30 points per game in the series with the Nets after averaging close to 27 in the regular season, and he's shot 42% from 3-point range in the playoffs thus far. He just turned 24 years old in March and is playing the best basketball of his career, outplaying Durant for the latest feather in his cap. His buzzer-beater in Game 1 certainly got Boston out on the right foot.

The Celtics rely on the 1-2 punch of Tatum and Brown, offering a challenge to a Milwaukee defense that won't have Khris Middleton available to start (or maybe at any point) in the series.

If there's a weakness, it might be three-point shooting

As much success as Boston has had, it's still shooting just 35.6% from three-point range (35.5% in the playoffs), which isn't horrid but ranks a couple percentage points below some of the best teams in the league. It's also fair to note that Milwaukee will present challenges on defense that Brooklyn did not.

Marcus Smart will no doubt be up to no good

Smart became the first guard to win the league's defensive player of the year award since Gary Payton with the Sonics in 1996. He's a big reason the Celtics led the league in defensive rating and points allowed per game, but more importantly in a protracted series, he has the ability to irritate opponents.

Familiar faces aplenty on Boston

Former Marquette University star and Stevens Point native Sam Hauser, who did not play in the series against Brooklyn, comes off the bench. Boston stuck exclusively to its eight-man rotation (expanding to nine when Williams returned), so it doesn't seem particularly likely Hauser would play.

The same can be said for reserve center Luke Kornet, who briefly spent time with Milwaukee this year and is the son of former Bucks player Frank Kornet.

How did the Bucks fare against the Celtics during the regular season?

The teams split the four games, but it's hard to draw many conclusions from the them. The squads met only once after Christmas (before the reborn Celtics began their rampage), and several players were missing from that April 7 meeting.

Nov. 12: Boston, 122, Milwaukee 113 (OT). Giannis Antetokounmpo was unavailable with an ankle injury and Middleton also was sidelined, and yet Milwaukee was still able to force overtime before falling at TD Garden. Boston's biggest threat that night was point guard Dennis Schröder, who's no longer with the team.

Dec. 13: Boston 117, Milwaukee 103. Tatum scored 42 points in Boston, and the Bucks incurred a rare loss with their Big Three of Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Jrue Holiday together on the court, though Middleton left in the third quarter with a hyperextended knee.

Dec. 25: Milwaukee 117, Boston 113. In his first game back from a five-game absence in the health and safety protocol, Antetokounmpo scored 36 points, and the Bucks roared back from 19 points down to win on Christmas. Boston was playing short-handed, with enough players in the health and safety protocol themselves that it wasn't clear whether the game would even be played.

April 7: Milwaukee 127, Boston 121. That Milwaukee had to struggle here is potentially a bad sign; the game was at home, Boston was on the second game of a back-to-back and didn't have Tatum, Williams or Al Horford. With seeding implications on the line, the Bucks nonetheless rallied behind the work of Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez.

Who is Celtics coach Ime Udoka?

Ime Udoka, the first Nigerian-American head coach in NBA history, is in his first year as coach of the Celtics, hired by predecessor Brad Stevens, who left the sideline to become the Celtics' director of basketball operations.

Udoka was an assistant with San Antonio (2012-19), Philadelphia (2019-20) and Brooklyn last year, which became especially notable when he met his former team in the first round. None of his 10 teams has ever missed the playoffs.

The Oregon-born Udoka represented Nigeria in international competition as a player and also has coached with Gregg Popovich as an assistant with the Team USA men's national team.

The 44-year-old, whose playing career in the NBA and overseas ran from 2003-12, is engaged to actress Nia Long. They have a son, born in 2011, and he is stepfather to Long's older son.

The Bucks and Celtics have a rich playoff history

There have been some great battles, including in recent history. When Milwaukee beat Boston in five games during the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals, it marked the first trip to the conference finals for the Bucks since 2001. That Boston team also had younger versions of Brown and Tatum, plus Horford, Williams, Theis and Smart, with the latter three in smaller roles than they play now. Irving, the player recently sent home by the Celtics, played his final game in a Boston uniform in that series.

In 2018, the seventh-seeded Bucks pushed Boston to the brink in the opening round but fell, 4-3. Boston also got the best of Milwaukee in 1987 (4-3 in conference semifinals), 1986 (4-0 in conference finals) and 1984 (4-1 in conference finals) after Milwaukee swept the Celtics in 1983 (conference semifinals).

Boston also beat the Bucks in a heartbreaking 4-3 series in the 1974 NBA Finals, a game remembered for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's buzzer-beating skyhook in Game 6. Overall, Boston holds a 21-18 lead in playoff games on Milwaukee.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about the Boston Celtics, who face Bucks in NBA playoffs