Boston Celtics: 3 keys to upsetting the Brooklyn Nets in Game 2
No. 1: Boston Celtics must score more points
If you told any Celtics fan that the C’s would hold Brooklyn to just 104 points in a game, that fan would probably assume that Boston won. Well, Boston did just that, and still managed to lose. The reason; they simply failed to hit their shots.
It wasn’t as if Boston was shooting an inordinate amount of threes, which has been a common sign of their struggling offense this season, or resorting to strictly isolation plays. They were doing the right thing for the most part, but just failed to execute when it came time to convert their shots.
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So, if the Celtics want to win Game 2, that means they are going to have to find a way to score this time around. That means Evan Fournier (3/10, 10 points), Kemba Walker (5/16 15 points), and even Tatum (6/20, 22 points) are going to have to step it up, and big time. Marcus Smart was arguably the most consistent scorer from the floor, which should tell you a lot about how things went in this one.
The easiest way to accomplish this is to gradually get these guys going. When Kemba hits his shots, they tend to come in spurts. Setting him up with an easy corner three to open the game helps him get his jumper locked in, and helps open up the paint for him to drive and get some easy layups.
With Fournier, he tends to force shots when they really just don’t need to be taken. When he’s on he doesn’t miss, but he forces the issue too much early on, which basically keeps him out of rhythm for entire games at a time. It would probably be better for Fournier if he were to come off the bench, but that’s not really an option at this point.
Next. Celtics poor second half leads to Game 1 loss. dark
And for Tatum, it’s all about getting to the paint. His barrage of stepback threes and tough middies aren’t as scary for opposing defenses if they don’t believe he is actually going to drive to the hoop. He did his best to do so in Game 1, and managed to get to the free throw line 11 times, but he just couldn’t convert anything in the second half, which was hugely detrimental to the Celtics scoring plan.
If you can get these three guys going, while maintaining most of the Game 1 gameplan, there’s a good chance for a victory in Game 2. If Boston can pull off a victory at the Barclays Center before heading back to Boston, they may have a shot to give Brooklyn a run for their money. If not, then summer vacation will be upon these players in a week’s worth of time.