Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from Game 2 loss vs. Bucks

3. Keep feeding Al Horford offensively

As noted above, Kyrie Irving had what will likely go down as the worst game of his illustrious postseason career. His offense was mostly stagnant, but it’s not to say he was entirely ineffective. The best set the Celtics can run in this series is the Irving-Horford pick-and-pop. The set was nightmare fuel for the Bucks in Game 1, and was remained unsolvable in Game 2 when it was deployed.

The Celtics will need to rely on this set heavily in Games 3 and 4, and remain confident in it. Game 2 was close coming out of the first half, as the Bucks led by just four points despite their record showing from deep and a 2-for-12 effort from Kyrie. The third quarter is where the collapse began for Boston.

After a 17-2 run in a stretch where the Cs would score just four points in eight minutes, the shot selection really withered. The Celtics were settling for contested 3-pointers early in the shot clock, rather than allowing their half-court offense to run its best sets.

Part of the blame lies on coaching, as Brad Stevens allowed his guys to play through it rather than call timeout and change the lineup. Opting to leave Horford on the bench through much of the run felt detrimental to an offense that was actively sputtering. Horford took just one shot in the nearly nine minutes of action he saw in the third quarter, when it felt like the Celtics needed him more than ever in the game.

Many of the criticisms of the third quarter feel like picking nits. Again, the Celtics did their job by splitting the first two games on the road, but they will need to get back to what helped them dominate Game 1 if they want to build back a lead in this series.

Game 1 was dominated by Kyrie and Horford, particularly in their two-man game. Irving’s ability to draw multiple defenders on his drives, combined with his much-improved passing, allowed for Horford to find empty spaces near the top of the key for easy mid-range buckets. It worked in the first half of Game 2, but the set disappeared in the second half. The Celtics need to get back to relying on Horford in Game 3.