After trailing by 20 in the 3rd quarter, the Boston Celtics came all the way back to take the lead. However, the Bucks had the last laugh and tied the series at 2.
It was a tale of two halves, except they ended with the same result. After looking extremely awful to start, the Boston Celtics roared back late in the third. They kept at it in the fourth and even had a lead with under a minute to go.
But it was the Bucks who came out on top. Now, the Celtics head home with the same amount of wins as when they left.
You have to hope that the Celtics will bounce back when they get home. Boston looked dominant in Game 2 and have rebounded at the Garden in past years.
But until then, everyone will be looking at the disappointment that went down in Milwaukee. The comeback was incredible in Game 4. In fact, I liked watching all but five seconds of it. But there was more bad than good and overall and the Boston Celtics have plenty to fix.
For awhile it wasn’t pretty, and it didn’t end pretty. Here are the Four Leaf Clovers from a frustrating loss on Sunday.
Let’s try playing some defense
For a long, long stretch of time in the first half, the Bucks were getting whatever shot they wanted. Khris Middleton was eating up whoever guarded him and nearly every possession in transition ended in a Milwaukee layup.
Now, some of it was luck. Thon Maker (a career 33% 3PT shooter) won’t make every three. Giannis won’t continue to drain jumper after jumper. Even Khris Middleton should miss eventually, though I wouldn’t necessarily count on it.
But what wasn’t lucky was how poor the Boston Celtics effort was in the first half and leading into the third. After Milwaukee made a few moves, the C’s were toast. If there was a stat for wide open shots, the Bucks were +10 at least.
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For me, the real takeaway from the defensive end was the absence of Marcus Smart. The Bucks were running countless pick and rolls and switches against Shane Larkin and Terry Rozier. Often times, Khris Middleton would get post ups and the much smaller guards could do nothing but watch. Turnaround jumpers over guys smaller than him are layups for Middleton. Against Marcus Smart, the degree of difficulty of those shots grows exponentially.
As good as Rozier was in Games 1&2 on offense, Smart is the better option. Eric Bledsoe has evened the score and odds are he will get the better of Rozier for the rest of the series. Putting even a hobbled Smart on Bledsoe should lead to more success.
Also, speaking of switching, Aron Baynes has looked nothing like the premier defender he was in the regular season. Against John Henson, anyone can hold their own. Against Thon Maker, he looked lost and for some reason was giving him wide open threes. The brief success he had guarding Giannis in Boston is nowhere to be found in Milwaukee. In switches guarding Khris Middleton, that’s an easy two or three for the Bucks.
Unfortunately for Boston, there is no clear option to solve this. Horford has been formidable against Giannis (“just” 46 points in Games 3&4), but he doesn’t match up well against Maker. I guess you just have to play the numbers and assume that Maker will be more like the guy who played only a few minutes in the first two games. Against Toronto last year, Maker was a lot worse on the road. You just have to hope the same can be said this year.
Let’s try playing some offense
On the offensive end, the Boston Celtics weren’t much better to start the game. Milwaukee seemed to know every play, and here’s where that “open shot” stat would come in handy. It seemed like every trip down the Celtics were taking contested shots and getting blocked at the rim. It is a testament to Milwaukee how good their defense was, but as we saw in the second half it wasn’t THAT good.
35 points in one half is unacceptable. Taking two and a half quarters to move the ball and get open shots is unacceptable. If I had to pick the biggest difference from Boston to Milwaukee, it would be just that: the sudden decrease in open shots and especially the decrease in making open shots.
The biggest swingers have clearly been Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier. In the first two games those two shot 29/63 (46 percent). In the last two, they are shooting 11/41 (27 percent). Not only are getting less open shots, but they are missing more of them. Those two need to get back their rythym in Boston.
It would also be great if Jayson Tatum could be effective for more than just a few possessions at a time. I get it, he’s a rookie and has barely sniffed any playoff air. But I’m setting the bar high for him. We all have all seen what he can do and expect him to come through when it matters most. There was someone on the roster who was doing just that. His name is Jaylen Brown.
Jaylen Brown was in a zone
Taking a break from the negative portion of the game, let’s jump to when the Celtics looked like they were going to come back and win. After a timeout, trailing by 20, the C’s came out roaring. By the end of the third, they had cut the lead to 8.
Any team can make a little dent after being down 20. But to come all the way back and take the lead, the Celtics needed someone to establish himself as the number one option. As I just mentioned, I expected this to be Tatum all series. He had shown that ability in the regular season a few times. However, it turned out that player was Jaylen Brown.
In the first half, Brown was the only player having any success. In the second half, he led a team back with an enormous amount of success. Outcome aside, what I saw today from Jaylen in just his second year is something of a budding star in the NBA. Clutch threes that barely hit the net. A one legged fadeaway that should have been an and-one. The stepback three over Khris Middleton to cut the lead to one. Big time.
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/988137773038161920
It was incredible. If the Celtics won, he would have been the talk of the town.
But there was just one more thing I wanted from Brown.
The last shot
Clearly, the last shot of the game was drawn up for Marcus Morris. He was given an iso with Khris Middleton, and missed to lose the game. It wasn’t even a bad shot, but why in the world was Morris taking it?!
Jayson Tatum had just made a clutch jumper. Jaylen Brown, who I would have picked, was shooting unconsciously. I mean, even Rozier had just made a few threes.
Nope, Morris got the ball and everybody stood still. He missed and the series is tied. I really hope that decision doesn’t come back to haunt the Celtics. Jaylen Brown deserved that shot. I don’t get why an iso for the fourth or fifth best guy on the team is the call in that situation.
In Game 5, I will be looking for even more better decisions and a rejuvenated Celtics roster. At this point, I have nothing else to do but hope and watch. My confidence in a win is shot, but that can easily be changed with a strong performance.
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Either way, Game 5 will probably decide the series and the season of the Boston Celtics. No pressure.