Less Marcus Morris, more Al Horford and other adjustments to watch for in Game 7

The Celtics will be playing for their season on Saturday night in what will be second Game 7 for the team in as many seasons. With the Bucks adjusting their starting lineup last game by starting Thon Maker, what is left for Brad Stevens to tweak? Here's a look at some areas to watch for on both sides.  

1. Avoiding ball stopping by Marcus Morris: The Celtics have virtually trimmed their rotation down to nine players over the past four games, eliminating Greg Monroe from the fold in favor of a returning Marcus Smart. With Semi Ojeleye and S0mart playing big minutes, there is a heavier onus on the C’s offensive weapons to capitalize on their opportunities. Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and Jayson Tatum have all had their moments over the past three games carrying the load in various spots. One player who has had more than his fair share of opportunities and has failed to come through is Marcus Morris. The veteran has the highest usage rate (25.7 percent) out of all C’s players who have been active in all six games. That’s not good news for the Celtics, particularly when said player ranks fifth on the team in scoring (13.7 ppg) despite taking the third most shot attempts on the team.

When the C’s offense has been stagnant and lost its way in lulls throughout this series, Morris has been a common thread in a lot of those hiccups.

He’s a ball stopper who seeks out his own looks and that plays into the Bucks' hands with the aggressive way they are defending this series. His defense has been up-and-down against the Bucks’ weapons but the 28-year-old has been a net negative for the series. He’s been great from behind the 3-point line (40 percent) but he’s shooting 35 percent from inside despite taking 9.5 attempts per game in that range.

With a Game 7 looming, Morris is going to have to become a less-eager shooter, particularly from midrange. He can punish the Bucks in mismatches (Dellavedova) but his straight-up looks in 1-on-1 play aren’t getting the job done. If the C’s offense gets flat with him on the floor, Brad Stevens needs to consider going in a different direction to maximize his defense. Otherwise, Morris is better suited to being a 3-point specialist rather than a midrange creator. He hasn’t been efficient enough to be given the green light with the season on the line.

2. Get Thon Maker out of the game: The seven-footer is an imposing presence at the rim, but he also loves to bite on shot fakes. The Celtics quickly racked up three fouls on him in the third quarter of Game 6, which forced Joe Prunty to pull him from the game. The lane opened up with him no longer patrolling the paint, which opened the door for the C’s offense to catch fire again with Brown and Tatum getting some easy chances inside, erasing a 14-point deficit quickly.

Whether it’s attacking Maker with mismatches, jump stops or ball fakes at the rim, Maker should be a constant target for this group. He doesn’t have the discipline to stay down against capable jump shooters and he’s going to be amped up in a Game 7 situation. The Celtics should try to use that against him.

3. Don’t forget about Al Horford: The most efficient offensive player on the Celtics roster in this series has been the All-Star. Still, he ranks just fifth on the team in shot attempts. With Horford having a mismatch in some areas depending on whoever guards him in the Bucks frontcourt, the C’s need to constantly punish the Bucks on this front. The team can’t go long spells with him failing to get some shots up, as was the case in the fourth quarter of Game 6 (zero shot attempts). While the C’s should be active in looking for the big man, Horford needs to be more aggressive with his opportunities as well. He can’t turn down layups to kick out the ball for 3s and he shouldn’t turn up open 3s to make an extra pass to an inferior shooter. Horford is one of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA and the C’s need to make use of that advantage to stretch out the Bucks big men more, which should produce more disarray within the Bucks defense.

4. Make the Bucks' role players beat you: No one on the Bucks outside of Khris Middleton and Shabazz Mohammad (who has been in and out of rotation) is shooting over 33 percent from 3-point range in this series. The Bucks’ outside shooting has been even worse at the TD Garden over the first three games in Boston. After watching Middleton and Antetokounmpo combine with Brogdon for 41 of the Bucks’ 49 points in the second half of the Game 6 win in Milwaukee, the choice should be clear for Stevens: Prevent the two best players in the series thus far from beating you. Brogdon has hit big shots over the course of the series and can’t be ignored, but the Celtics are best off rolling the dice with the rest of the Milwaukee supporting cast. Bledsoe, Snell, Dellavedova and company are not reliable from deep away from the Bradley Center. The C’s should adjust to that reality to ensure that Middleton and Antetokounmpo don’t find their grooves early in Game 7.