No. 1: Limit Kevin Durant
The key seems quite clear to anyone who has watched the Nets, Kevin Durant, or NBA basketball: to win, stop their best player. But it is important nonetheless, and a task that the Celtics are up to if committed to it. Against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics were able to limit Giannis Antetokounmpo for three quarters. And it worked. Antetokounmpo had 11 points at halftime when the Celtics had a five-point lead, and only six more points after the third when the Celtics had a 17 point lead. Then Antetokounmpo more than doubled his scoring totals in the fourth, adding 18 more points, closing the gap between Boston and Milwaukee.
Kevin Durant, like Antetokounmpo, is a seven-foot freak that can do everything on the court. But the Celtics have several “freak-stoppers” on their roster. However, to successfully stop Durant, it could require some offensive sacrifice. The Celtics will likely go with a ‘bigger’ lineup once again, with Theis and Thompson being the 4 and 5, giving them some interior support, which can help. Still, they will also need perimeter defenders to stop Durant and limit the rest of their scorers.
To do so, the Celtics will likely need to give Semi Ojeleye more minutes than usual, as they did against the Bucks. Ojeleye is a one-dimensional robust ball stopper. They will also need pesky on-ball defense from Jaylen Brown and off-ball play from Marcus Smart. And probably Grant Williams and Jayson Tatum to do their fair share of work on Durant.
It will take a lot of great playcalling from Brad Stevens and extraordinary execution to do so, but to win today, the Celtics need to make sure Durant does not control the game.