Celtics: Team Climbs Back to Even Series at Home

The Celtics were able to win both games at home to tie the series and will now head back to Atlanta looking to steal a game on the road.

Going into Game 3 Friday night, there was a feeling around Boston that the Celtics were “done” and many were just hoping the team wouldn’t get swept. Doubt crept in for Celtics Nation as the green were trailing two games to none in this best-of-seven series and having lost their second biggest threat on the court in Avery Bradley for the rest of the series.

Today we are all squared up at two games a piece, as both teams have defended home court. Now, both teams will travel back to Atlanta for Game 5 of this Eastern Conference First Round match-up on Tuesday night.

What critics and “haters” failed to recognize was the resilience and true heart that this team actually has.

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Coach Brad Stevens mixed up the strategy by placing Jonas Jerebko and Evan Turner into the starting lineup for Marcus Smart and Jared Sullinger, in order to create some more offense early.

Stevens decision truly sparked this team as Jerebko played without a doubt his best two games of the year. He was a rebound machine (11 RPG in 2 home games) and averaged a double-double in these last two games at home with his shot finding the back of the net on the majority of attempts.

The greatest result that came from this move by Stevens was the presence of Marcus Smart. His defensive presence along with his out-of-nowhere offensive abilities really set the tone in Game 4. Smart finished with a playoff career high in Game 4 with 20 points and other than guard Isaiah Thomas was the true difference for the Celtics.

Thomas touched on Smart’s performance in his press conference after Sunday night’s 104-95 overtime victory.  “You give Marcus Smart an assignment, he’s probably going to get it done no matter who he’s playing against, he’s a hell of a competitor and you need guys like that to win in the Playoffs.”

Smart – who has been one of the best young defenders in the NBA since he was drafted in 2014 – has had a number of tough assignments in the series including having to guard Atlanta big man Paul Millsap.“Guarding a guy like him and him being so hot, you just got to contain him the best you can and pressure him,” said Smart. “I tried to use my speed and my quickness against him and just tried to get up under him and make him play on his heels.” For the record, Millsap was limited to 1-5 from the field while being guarded by Smart on Sunday night.

The move by Stevens to switch up the starting lineup provided a serious spark and it also opened up the floor for All Star Isaiah Thomas.

In Game 3 Thomas dropped a career-high 42 points and right now sits as the overall scoring leader in the 2016 NBA Playoffs averaging 28.7 PPG in just the first four games. Scoring 40+ points on the parquet floor put Thomas into a group with some great company that includes Celtic’s legends such as Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, Reggie Lewis, Paul Pierce, JoJo White, as well as Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo.

Thomas, who has already made a name for himself here in Boston in just his first year and a half in a Celtics uniform, has taken lead of this team in a fashion that’s comparable to other Boston sports leaders for their respected teams like Pierce, David Ortiz, Patrice Bergeron, and Tom Brady.

I bring up these leaders because they’ve all won championships here, and in these last two games Thomas has led the Boston Celtics to play championship-type caliber basketball. Thomas’s dagger with 30.6 seconds in Sunday night’s overtime win erupted the Boston crowd, and chants of “M-V-P” were shouted for the 5’9 guard who rightfully put the punctuation on Game 4 for the Celtics.

Luckily for Thomas, other players such as Smart and Jerebko contributed on offense to help Boston tie the series at 2. “Isaiah did a heck of a job, the way they were guarding him, still being able to penetrate and find guys,” Smart said. “I was one of the guys on the end of that. When I was that wide open and Isaiah doing all that work, I had to make the shot.”

Although Atlanta lost both games in Boston, the team didn’t necessarily struggle offensively as they shot a combined 41.1% from the field in both games.

In Sunday night’s Game 4,  Paul Millsap who dropped 45 points, was 19-31 from the field and was determined to give his team a 3-1 lead heading back to Atlanta. Dropping over 40+ points in a losing effort just tells me that your opponents are simply just outworking you at every other aspect of the game.

The Celtics could of just laid down when they were down 55-45 with 9:23 left in the third quarter, but they were not shook, despite not being able to stop Millsap. They just stayed true to the game they have played all year, which was to play lock-down defense and continue to grind out games. “I think we took our foot off the pedal. I think we maybe pressed a little bit, tried to take them off their game,” Millsap said. “Give them credit: We had the opportunity to blow the game out. We just didn’t do it.”

There was no stopping Millsap, it was just a matter of slowing him down. And that’s exactly what you saw Marcus Smart do in the closing minutes. With no Hawk over 13 points other than Millsap, and outside of a couple last minute three-pointers by Guard Jeff Teague, Atlanta wasn’t able to get a lot of good scoring opportunities and they failed to show up in key moments. Especially in Game 4. Players such as Smart, Jerebko, and Forward Amir Johnson stepped up big time to out rebound and create 14 turnovers for the surging Celtics.

Boston’s Newest Villian

Atlanta Point Guard Dennis Schroeder has quickly become the main target of Celtics Nation, after an altercation between him and Isaiah Thomas in Game 3, which led to offsetting technical fouls.

The 22-year-old with the blonde-dyed hair has established himself as one of the league’s top reserve point guards, and is averaging over 10 PPG this season.

I was at the game Friday night, and as soon as that altercation occurred Boston’s faithful were all over the Germany product, with boo’s every-time he touched ball and hostile yelling. Thomas, who was caught on video appearing to be taking a swing at Schroeder in Game 3, was not suspended but assessed with a “no-harm-no-foul” flagrant-1 instead.

“I mean, they’ve got a good crowd, it reminds me of Germany,” Schroder said. “Everybody is into the game. Everybody is cheering. I think it’s a great crowd”. “I like [being the bad guy]. I think that’s just another motivation for me to win the game.”

Personally, I’ve been on Schroeder since day one. He has an edge to him that really ticks you off if you’re not on his team. Consider him public enemy number one for the Boston fan-base for the time being. . . Actually,  scratch that – make that number 2 behind Goodell.

Road Ahead

Tuesday night the Celtics will have a tough task heading into Game 5 in Atlanta.

With momentum on their side after winning two in a row I don’t see why they can’t take one from the Hawks in their building. No team has yet to grab a win on the road on either side, but that can change Tuesday night.

The keys to the game will be to not let Millsap or anyone for that matter (Teague, Horford, Korver) go off for numbers like Millsap did in Game 4.

We now know that the winner of this series will play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Second Round, as they swept the Detroit Pistons in a series that concluded Sunday night.

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I’m sticking with my original prediction – the Celtics win in six games. It might be wishful thinking seeing as how no team has yet to steal a game on the road. However, that game could be tomorrow night as the C’s have a great opportunity to build on their momentum that they created at home.