Boston Celtics: 5 Keys To Comeback Against New York Knicks In Round 1
The Boston Celtics have dug themselves a hole from which no team in history has ever recovered from. With a Game 3 loss to the New York Knicks in Boston, the Celtics find themselves on the wrong side of a 3-0 deficit and have yet to put any real pressure on the confident Knicks. While it seems impossible that the Celtics could find any way to come back from here, the veteran core will not take another loss lying down and if we know anything about this team, it is that they will fight until the very end. So, what are the top five keys to a Boston Celtics comeback in round 1?
5. Win Game 4
Yes, this may seem like the most simple of statements, but first things first–if the Celtics want any chance at winning this series they need to get a win on the board before the Knicks sweep away their playoff hopes. The Celtics have yet to put any real pressure on the Knicks and we are yet to see how New York will respond if it has its back against the ropes. Sometimes all it takes is one win to turn the momentum in the series and if the Celtics could send the series back to New York and catch the Knicks complacent or over-confident trying to close out on their home court; anything could happen.
If Boston could manage to get a win or two over the Knicks, appear to be rising to the occasion and put some question marks over New York, the Knicks may begin to feel the pressure of maybe–just maybe–being the first team to give up a 3-0 advantage in a series. With some feeling like this may be the last time we will see Kevin Garnett or, to a lesser extent, Paul Pierce in the TD Garden, the home crowd will be electric and the team may finally lift their energy enough to counter the high-flying Knicks.
The Celtics need Kevin Garnett to improve his scoring output. (Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule)
4. Kevin Garnett needs to be a scorer
Kevin Garnett has still been outstanding on the defensive end despite a number of nagging injuries, but it is offensively where the Celtics have struggled. Garnett has averaged just more than 10 points per game on less than 40 percent shooting over the first three games and has just seven assists.
While Garnett is no longer capable of taking over a game offensively, the Celtics need their All-Star big man to take more responsibility with the team struggling. The ball needs to run through Garnett in the post more often and he needs to be more aggressive with his shot. If he can get off to a fast start, the Knicks will be forced to pay more attention to him and it will allow him to use his passing to find open shooters. If the Celtics are to have any chance keeping up with the Knicks on the scoreboard they are going to need an efficient 20 points from Garnett in every remaining game.
3. Bench production
The Celtics have struggled to find any consistent production from their bench and desperately need their second unit to make a reliable contribution. Coach Doc Rivers has tried both a big and a small starting lineup, interchanging Brandon Bass and Jason Terry, but in all three games the bench has remained underwhelming.
If the Celtics are going to rely on veterans like Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to carry the team to victory, they need the bench to support their stars and keep up with the productive Knicks second unit. The Celtics have a group of guards who should be capable of producing points in Terry, Courtney Lee and wildcard Jordan Crawford but their backup big men remain a concern. With the Celtics struggling on the boards, it may be time for Rivers to insert Shavlik Randolph into the series to provide a consistent rebounding presence in the paint.
Paul Pierce is key to improving the Celtics offense.
Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
2. Find some offense
The Celtics have failed to reach the 80-point mark in any of the three games thus far in the series. With a team as capable on both ends as the Knicks you are simply not going to get a win with that kind of offensive production and they will quickly need to find a solution to their problem.
Without Rajon Rondo, who was the primary ball handler and the league leader in assists, the Celtics offense was always going to change dramatically, but there should be enough players capable of making plays to at least come up with an effective alternative to the Rondo-led offense. Coach Doc Rivers needs to quickly figure out a way of attacking the Knicks defense and getting consistent production with the pieces he has before it’s too late.
The Celtics have a number of players capable of both scoring and creating for others–especially Pierce, Garnett and Jeff Green should be able to produce some kind of effective offense, but whether there is time to implement anything on the fly is another question. Not only do the Celtics need to improve, but they are going to have to do it against an impressive and energetic Knicks defense.
1. A miracle
Realistically, this is the reality of the Celtics’ situation. As mentioned, no team in league history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit and the Celtics have not exactly appeared as a likely candidate to break that streak. We have all seen that anything can happen in the playoffs and a series can turn in an instant, but what could possibly ignite a historical turn around like this from a struggling Celtics team?
It may take a record-breaking shooting performance or a defensive performance for the ages. Could we see the seemingly impossible return of Rajon Rondo or a devastating injury to a key Knicks player? Whatever the case, if the Celtics do the impossible and come back to win this series, it is certain that something miraculous will have occurred.