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 fell to the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

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

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

“Me and him have to be able to hold each other accountable,” Lillard said, explaining what he and Antetokounmpo must do to win a title together. “And I don’t mean we yell at each other all the time, I just mean like I need to be able to tell you something. And you have to be able to say something to me at any time. He always had to assert himself in Milwaukee, lead the charge and be sort of the man that drove it forward. And that’s how I’ve always been in Portland. And I think now that we’re together, we both have to look across and say, ‘That’s a top 75 player too.’ And I have to trust that he carries that with me. I think we both have to do this. After that we got a chance. We have a chance.”

The Bucks’ upcoming game against the Celtics will serve as a good benchmark for Milwaukee as the season begins. The Celtics are the team to beat, not just in the Eastern Conference, but in the entire NBA.

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 with such a record, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Additionally, based on the team’s performance in three games, it looks like it could be considered one of the best 3-point shooting teams of all time.

The Celtics’ 3-point offense has been downright lethal so far. Boston leads the NBA in both three-pointers made (22.7) and three-pointers attempted (51.3) per game.

It will be interesting to see if the Bucks will be able to limit Boston’s scoring from behind the 3-point arc. Part of the reason the Celtics are so difficult to guard is that players at every level of their roster – from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to Sam Hauser and Xavier Tillman – can shoot the ball from deep.