Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from backbreaking Game 4 loss vs. Bucks

1. The Bucks are simply the better team

Game 1 was jarring. The Celtics waltzed into Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee and unleashed a torrent of scoring on a Bucks team that looked like they didn’t know what hit them. Irving and Horford punished Milwaukee’s drop-back coverage, and were able to completely eliminate Giannis defensively.

The games since have shown, very clearly, that the Bucks are not that team. Giannis has exploited every mismatch he can find, as he’s attacked Tatum, Brown and Marcus Morris with relentless finishing ability when he is able to switch off Horford. The space that Giannis is able to create, drawing three-man help at times, only serves to further damage the Celtics when they fail to cover the distance leaving Khris Middleton, George Hill or Pat Connaughton wide open at the arc.

Offensively, the Celtics have been pushed out of their pick-and-roll that was so deadly in Game 1. The Bucks opted to switch on the devastating Irving-Horford pick-and-pop, leaving Brook Lopez on-ball against Irving, who has struggled to find the pass against Milwaukee’s length. While the Celtics went to the pick-and-pop 30 times per 100 possessions against the Indiana Pacers, they have gone to it less than 20 times per 100 against Milwaukee, with the Bucks’ length being a huge reason why.

Of course, it’s also a really bad time to go cold shooting the ball as Kyrie has, shooting just 19-of-62 in the past three games. Jayson Tatum has also been icy — not in a good way — as he didn’t find the bottom of the net on a 3-point attempt in the series until late in the fourth quarter of Game 4.

The Celtics might have been able to survive poor shooting performances if their defense had remained as stingy as it was in Game 1, but uninspired defensive performances from Irving, combined with an injured Marcus Smart, haven’t done them any favors. In fact, Al Horford is the only player on the team even remotely capable of limiting Giannis in the interior.

Even Aron Baynes, who’s been a more-than-effective defender against the likes of Joel Embiid in last year’s playoffs, has had his minutes limited due to a lack of defensive production. Put simply, Boston doesn’t have the manpower to compete with what the Bucks can throw at them.

Shot-making for Boston has declined as Milwaukee has gotten incredible effort from George Hill, closing out shooters and limiting their air space. The Bucks’ depth has been extremely punitive for the Celtics’ bench.

The Bucks are the team everyone thought the Celtics would be, while the Celtics are the team they kept trying to tell everyone they were in the regular season. No matter how many superlatives or press conferences blurbs there were to convince us Boston was some 16-game juggernaut, they are simply the inconsistent, jumbled mess that they played as all year.