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

1. The Celtics need Marcus Smart back

For a while, it looked like Boston would be able to weather the loss of their defensive stalwart Marcus Smart. They were able to sweep the Indiana Pacers in convincing fashion, and opened the series with Milwaukee with an impressive blowout victory.

Now, however, it feels like they need the gritty, steady handed presence of Smart.

The Celtics have found themselves struggling defensively the past two games, allowing over 120 points in both outings. They’ve struggled to create turnovers, to limit the Bucks to one shot and to contest open shooters at the 3-point line.

Not only that, but their switchability has been lacking with less versatile defenders on the floor.

Kyrie Irving has had the best defensive season of his career, but he’s simply being asked to do too much on that end of the floor in this series.

With Smart in the game, not only would the Celtics switching improve, an aspect of the game that Jaylen Brown has often struggled with, but they could hide Kyrie on lesser offensive players.

The Cs don’t need to hide Kyrie because of poor defense, they need to do it to limit the energy he’s expending on that end of the floor. An Irving that is able to rest on defense will be punishing on offense. That’s where Marcus Smart helps so much.

Another aspect of a Marcus Smart return would be the ability to move Brown to the bench and split their minutes.

Having Jaylen Brown in the second unit would relieve pressure off of Gordon Hayward, while giving Brown a chance to showcase every aspect of his game as a more primary ball-handler.

The only issue is, the Bucks may be returning an injured guard of their own in Malcolm Brogdon. It’s not explicitly clear who misses whom more, but it feels like the Celtics defense is dying on the vine without Smart.