Ime Udoka’s message is finally resonating with the Boston Celtics

After a disappointing west coast road trip featuring four losses, the Boston Celtics were able to come out victorious over the Milwaukee Bucks in the TD Garden on Monday night. However, considering the way the team has played as of late, this outcome was somewhat surprising to see.

It became known that head coach Ime Udoka held an intense film session when they arrived back at their facility. The session was focused on the lack of defensive identity throughout the last three games of their west coast road trip. On said trip, the Celtics allowed 119.2 points per game in five outings.

The Boston Celtics took care of the Milwaukee Bucks after first-year head coach Ime Udoka held an animated team film session after a disappointing road trip.

The team reportedly went through over 100 various clips of defensive lapses and failures that ultimately cost them the game. However, in Monday night’s win, Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 42 points. He had this to say afterward about the film session and how it helped the team.

"”It was honest, it was direct, it was open and it was what we needed. It wasn’t time to sugarcoat anything. We didn’t play how we wanted to. Especially those last three games. You’re not going to win every game, but you can live with the ones you lose when you play the right way and you give yourself a chance.”"

Ime Udoka was brought in to be the head coach of the Boston Celtics because the players wanted him to be their leader. His tenure as a player in the NBA makes it easy for the team to relate to him.

I believe this film session was the first time this season that the players actually took Udoka seriously and heard what he was explaining to them – as a coach and not a friend.

I’ve been critical about Udoka all season. However, I’m able to give credit when it’s due. This was Udoka’s best game as a head coach. He acknowledged that his team was struggling in certain areas and didn’t hesitate to point it out.

This is crucial, especially considering that the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks are coming to town this weekend. He took advantage of the opportunity to address the situation and it worked out well for the Celtics against the Bucks. He said this after the win over Milwaukee:

"“I didn’t love how we didn’t fight at times. I put it out there. Guys responded well but there is no way to sweep it under the rug. You show them what it is and how ugly it looks when you see five games in a row of those clips. The big picture of seeing that trip and where we ended up defensively, we didn’t like that feeling.”"

For the first time all season, the coaching points from Ime Udoka were finally heard by the team and we saw how well it translated to the court. The defensive effort by the Celtics was evident against the Bucks and it helped them earn a big win. That’s a credit to Udoka.

It’s worth mentioning that Jaylen Brown returned to the court after a hamstring injury that had kept him on the sideline since December 1st. Brown looked refreshed and more like himself on the court.

In doing so, he produced 19 points in 30 minutes in his return. There was a scary moment where Brown went to the bench after colliding knees with Bobby Portis in the first quarter. Luckily, it didn’t last long, as Brown was able to return to the game.

The team credited the win to their defense, which produced 33 rebounds and five blocks. However, everything was clicking well in this game.

The Celtics also finished with 31 assists, shot 50 percent from the field, and connected 20 times from behind the arc (42.6 percent). It was an all-around great game for the Celtics, a team who really needed a positive boost for their self-esteem.

The Boston Celtics will look to build on this momentum moving forward for another challenging weekend with back-to-back games starting Friday night against the Warriors, and then the Knicks on Saturday.