How the Boston Celtics can bounce back in Game 5
The Boston Celtics lost their offensive rhythm in Games 3 and 4 in Milwaukee. Two simple adjustments could let them take control.
The young Boston Celtics got their clock cleaned by the Milwaukee Bucks in their first game away from home in the 2018 NBA Playoffs. While the Bucks took the Celtics out of their rhythm on offense, they created new scoring opportunities for themselves that allowed them to take an early lead and never look back.
The key to any playoff series is the adjustments that are made along the way. The Bucks cranked up the effort on defense, which allowed them to capitalize on their true bread and butter – transition offense. (Unless your name is Khris Middleton, in which case all offense is your bread and butter.)
By hounding the Celtics on the perimeter, the Bucks cut off Terry Rozier and Shane Larkin from feeding the ball inside early in the shot clock like they were doing in Games 1 and 2. By playing tough in the paint, Giannis Antetokounmpo wouldn’t let Al Horford post up as easily and have the ball come to him right where he wanted it.
Brad Stevens commended the Bucks for their effort in his post-game press conference after Game 3:
"“It’s not about what you’re doing tactically, it’s about how hard the other team is putting you on your heels, and that’s what they did tonight to us.”"
(It’s always interesting to hear a coach lauded as a tactician say “It’s not about what you’re doing tactically.” It’s also likely that he’s just going to do his strategizing behind closed doors, or anywhere that’s not in front of a microphone.)
One of the most obvious errors I saw in Game 3 were a few instances of the Celtics abandoning 3-point shooters on defense to help cover players who were already sufficiently covered.
Jabari Parker‘s best effort doesn’t get him past Aron Baynes. I can understand the temptation to try to trap Parker here, but going for it in the middle of the floor leaves him with too many options to pass out of it.
With three Bucks around the perimeter, Parker has an easy pass to anybody left open, which is exactly what happens here, and Malcolm Brogdon hits the shot. Jaylen Brown also made this mistake in Game 4 when the Celtics went on their second half stampede to erase a 20-point deficit.
The other major mistake I consistently saw was desperately rushed shots on offense. The Bucks defense was great all around, especially on the perimeter. When the Celtics got open, they seemed unprepared to shoot, and often did not shoot at all. Instead, they would take their inch of free space and try to stretch it to a mile by taking the ball straight to the basket.
The first half of the video is essentially the same sequence repeating itself: Somebody on the Celtics thinks they’ve created a path to the basket, and Thon Maker (whose body I assume was possessed by Kevin Garnett) denies the shot easily.
Driving to the rim can be a trap sometimes. The key difference is that sometimes you drive because you know you’re going to score, and sometimes you drive because it just seems like a good idea at the time. If it’s the latter, it’s likely that the offense broke down and it’s not an open shot.
In the previous games we saw Jaylen Brown drive, change speeds and use his body to seal off his defender when the coast was clear. While he found his stroke in the second half, the first half was more of the same — driving into the chest of waiting defenders, getting the ball stripped or swatted by Maker. Jayson Tatum had this issue as well, as his crossover before making his move has become predictable to the Bucks defenders.
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The Celtics can take another series lead in Game 5 at home. If they can walk out of Boston in one piece, Marcus Smart could make a return in Game 6, where the Celtics need him the most. The Celtics were one of the few teams to play better on the road than at home during the regular season, in large part due to Smart.