The Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks both swept their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series, setting up a clash that most of us have been waiting for all season.
Now, the team that many expected to have the best record in the East will take on the team that actually ended up having the best record in the East in what should be a terrific battle between two legitimate contenders.
Neither club broke much of a sweat in its first-round matchup, so this will represent the first real test for both sides.
Here are a few things to look out for in a rematch of last year's seven-game series:
6. The history between Terry Rozier and Eric Bledsoe
I'm sure you remember the first-round matchup between the Celtics and Bucks last year. Boston was without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in the series, so its young guys took center stage.
One of those young guys was Terry Rozier, who severely outplayed Eric Bledsoe most of the way in the Celtics' series victory. During the battle, Rozier accidentally called Eric Bledsoe “Drew” Bledsoe, a callback to the former New England Patriots quarterback.
Then, Bledsoe pretended to not even know who Rozier was when asked about how well Rozier had been playing in the series.
At the end of the seven-game set, it was all in good fun for Rozier and Bledsoe, who hugged and laughed it out following Boston's Game 7 win, but you have to wonder if some bad blood still remains.
Of course, circumstances are a bit different this time around, as Rozier is now a bench player with Irving healthy, but both Rozier and Bledsoe might still be motivated by last year's incident.
5. How the Celtics allocate frontcourt minutes
The Celtics have a whole lot of guys up front who can get minutes, but their main triumvirate is Al Horford, Aron Baynes and Marcus Morris.
With the Bucks frontcourt being pretty unique in boasting one of the most athletic players this league has ever seen in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston might have to handle things a bit differently in this series.
Last year, Semi Ojeleye actually played a huge role in the Celtics' series win, as he saw ample time defending Antetokounmpo. He is legitimately one of the better Giannis defenders in the league, as his blend of size, strength and athleticism is something that few other bigs have.
Expect him to get some minutes.
As for Daniel Theis? Remember: he was not there last year, as he was out with a torn meniscus. But you might see Brad Stevens opt to give Theis more minutes while lessening Baynes' playing time, as the more swift-footed Theis is better-equipped to deal with Antetokounmpo.
Basically, expect all of Horford, Baynes, Morris, Ojeleye and Theis to get some burn, with Horford and Morris being the primary bigs.
4. Can the Bucks make threes consistently?
If the Bucks want to win this series, they are going to have to make their triples at a consistent clip, which is something they actually did not do all that well during the regular season.
Milwaukee ranked just 15th in the league in three-point percentage during the 2018-19 campaign, which could spell problems for the Bucks in this series.
How the Celtics decide to defend Antetokounmpo remains to be seen (more on that later), but one thing Giannis is probably better at than anyone in the league not named LeBron James is collapsing the defense.
That opens up the floor for the Bucks shooters, but they have to make shots.
Guys like Khris Middleton, Nikola Mirotic and even Bledsoe are going to need to make open threes over the course of this seven-game set. If they don't, Antetokounmpo becomes infinitely more defensible, and the Bucks become that much more beatable.
3. How will the Celtics defend The Greek Freak?
Antetokounmpo has been one of the most unstoppable players in the league this season, which is why the Bucks were able to finish with the best record in the NBA.
The question is, just how will the C's defend him in this series?
Do the Celtics let Antetokounmpo get his 30-35 points and just stop everyone else? Or do they load up on Giannis and force guys like Mirotic to beat the from three-point line?
Truth be told, it will probably be a bit of a combination of both strategies. The Celtics will have an army of players defending the Freak, as Horford, Morris, Ojeleye and even Theis will likely all see some time against him. You might even see Jayson Tatum or, if he gets healthy, Marcus Smart for stretches.
Honestly, there really is no way to stop Giannis from getting his, so this will likely come down to just how well Boston closes out on shooters when he kicks the ball out.
2. The Celtics' depth
The Bucks clearly have the best player in this series, but the Celtics clearly have more depth.
Make no mistake about it: this is now about Giannis vs. Kyrie. This is about guys like Horford, Gordon Hayward, Tatum and Jaylen Brown winning their matchups and coming at Milwaukee in waves.
While the Bucks rely heavily on Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon (when healthy) for the bulk of their offensive production, the Celtics have a slew of options behind Irving whom they can turn to.
The biggest X-factor of them all is Hayward, who has looked a lot better over the last two months or so and put the Indiana Pacers to bed with a 20-point performance and a huge fourth quarter in Game 4 of the first round.
If Hayward can put forth those types of outings consistently in this series, the Bucks could be in a heap of trouble, as you know what guys like Kyrie and Horford are going to do already.
1. Will Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon get healthy?
Both Smart and Brogdon will likely miss Game 1 of this second-round matchup, with Smart nursing a torn oblique and Brogdon dealing with a foot injury.
The importance of these two players cannot be understated, as Smart is the Celtics' best defensive force and is also one of their top playmakers. Meanwhile, Brogdon is a ridiculously efficient scorer who may very well be the Bucks' second-best offensive player behind Giannis.
The health of these two guys may very well end up determining the series, and if one of them returns and produces and the other one doesn't, it could swing the tide.
Right now, it seems like Brogdon is in better shape than Smart as far as his timetable goes, so the C's could be in some trouble here. And, ironically enough, Smart would likely be the guy to see the most time defending Brogdon.
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