Celtics, Bucks on a collision course for a postseason showdown?

BOSTON — Several weeks ago, Ja Morant made headlines when he told ESPN’s Malika Andrews that the Memphis Grizzlies are “fine in the West.”

What drew a little less attention was that Morant said there was one team he was, in fact, concerned about: the Boston Celtics.

And, after Memphis lost 119-109 Sunday to a Celtics team that is missing three of its top eight players — including Boston’s starting backcourt of reigning Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and All-Star Jaylen Brown — Morant explained his concern about the Eastern Conference foe.

“Pretty much how balanced of a team they’ve got,” Morant said. “Obviously they got two guys averaging 20-plus, but just looking at it tonight, where they had eight guys in double figures? That’s tough.

“I feel like just them being balanced and having two guys who lead them on the offensive end [Jayson Tatum and Brown] and then you have two terrific defensive players as well with Smart and Robert Williams.

“Pretty tough team.”

Boston has been a tough team all season long — which is why the Celtics woke up Monday morning with the NBA’s best record at 41-16. The Milwaukee Bucks, meanwhile, have arguably the best player in the sport in their employ in Giannis Antetokounmpo, finally have forward Khris Middleton healthy, have ripped off 10 straight victories and trail Boston by 1½ games with a 39-17 record.

These teams’ placement will serve as the backdrop for one of the biggest games of the 2022-23 season thus far, as Boston travels to Milwaukee to face the Bucks Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET in one of the final games before this weekend’s All-Star Game in Salt Lake City.

Although the game won’t serve as a true gauge of where the two titans of the Eastern Conference stand against each other, given Smart and Brown won’t be playing, this past week of games showed the Celtics can still be a worthy opponent even at less than full strength.

Just ask the Grizzlies and the Philadelphia 76ers — both of whom came to Boston in nationally televised games against the league-leading Celtics only to be sent home with losses despite MVP candidate Tatum shooting a combined 8-for-31 and several Celtics players missing both games.

When asked what has allowed Boston to perform at a high level, Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla referred to a conversation he had with center Mike Muscala when Boston acquired him from the Oklahoma City Thunder before Thursday’s trade deadline.

“When Mike came here, I told him, ‘Cherish this, because it might be one of the best locker rooms you have,'” Mazzulla said. “So their ability to just be professional, regardless of their circumstances, is special.”

It’s not as if the Bucks have been a picture of health this season, either. Middleton missed most of the season with both wrist and knee issues before returning late last month, and he has still been coming off the bench in recent games. Key reserve Joe Ingles missed the Bucks’ first couple of months recovering from ACL surgery he had last season, and Portis has missed the past couple of weeks with an MCL sprain.

But Antetokounmpo has been his usual dominant self, averaging a career-high 32.4 points to go along with 12.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists. Jrue Holiday has played at an All-Star level, and Brook Lopez is firmly in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. And, after a long stretch of inconsistency following their 9-0 start to the season, the Bucks have found a brilliant vein of form during their 10-game winning streak, outscoring opponents by more than 11 points per 100 possessions.

Add up all of that — and combine it with the fact no team made inroads in getting closer to the Celtics and Bucks atop the East, with the teams behind them either sending players out or largely standing pat (in stark contrast to the arms race across the Western Conference last week) — and it appears Boston and Milwaukee are on a collision course for yet another postseason showdown. The depth additions made last week — Muscala for Boston, and versatile forward Jae Crowder for Milwaukee — underscore both teams’ placement among the conference’s elite.

The Celtics and Bucks have faced each other three times in the past five seasons in the playoffs — including last spring’s seven-game slugfest in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The way both are playing right now, the expectation is for a fourth series in six seasons this spring — only this time, one that will come a round later. Tuesday night, even with key players missing, should provide an idea of what that postseason showdown might look like.