The Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard experiment hasn’t paid off for the team yet. In Lillard’s first season in Milwaukee, he averaged his fewest points per game since the 2014-15 season (24.3), and the Bucks were bounced by the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Additionally, the Bucks got off to a slow start in his second season with the team. Milwaukee has a 1-2 record on the season after suffering an ugly loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. The Bucks are also in serious danger of falling to 1-3 soon as they face the Boston Celtics on Monday night.

Lillard shared what he thinks he and Giannis Antetokounmpo need to do to ensure the team wins the NBA’s ultimate prize, the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

“Me and him have to hold each other accountable,” Lillard said of what he and Antetokounmpo need to do to win a title together. “And I don’t mean shouting at each other all the time, I just mean being able to say something to you. And you should always be able to say something to me. He’s always had to put his foot down in Milwaukee and lead the offense and look a bit like the guy who has to push it forward. And that’s how I’ve always been in Portland. And I think now that we’re together, we should both look and say, ‘This is a top-75 player too.’ And I have to trust that he will carry this with me. I think we should both do that. Then we got a chance. We have a chance.”

The Bucks’ upcoming game against the Celtics will be a good benchmark for Milwaukee early in the campaign. The Celtics are the team to beat, not just in the Eastern Conference, but in the NBA as a whole.

At 3-0, Boston has not suffered a loss since the start of the season. The Celtics are currently one of only four teams in the league – along with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder to boast such a record. Furthermore, based on the team’s play through three games, it seems like it could go down in history as one of the best 3-point shooting teams of all time.

The Celtics’ three-point offense has been nothing short of deadly so far. Boston leads the NBA in both 3s made (22.7) and attempts (51.3) per game.

It should be interesting to see if the Bucks can limit Boston’s scoring from behind the three-point arc. Part of what makes the Celtics so tough to beat is that players on their roster – from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to Sam Hauser and Xavier Tillman – can shoot the ball from deep.