MILWAUKEE -- One of the biggest turning points of the Eastern Conference semifinals came before Game 1 even began on Sunday afternoon at Fiserv Forum. Brad Stevens had watched the Celtics roll through an undefeated first round with Aron Baynes and Al Horford manning the front line, yet the head coach elected to move away from the duo, bringing Marcus Morris back into the fold at starting power forward while shifting Horford to center.
A starting shift had been anticipated heading into the showdown with the NBA’s best team, but the direction that Stevens would head in was widely debated. Morris, Semi Ojeleye and Gordon Hayward were all considered prime candidates to move into the starting role next to Horford. It was also hard to rule out him sticking with Baynes given his track record of waiting on postseason lineup shifts until later in the series. The Celtics were winning with Baynes/Horford, so why mix it up? That philosophy had led Stevens into trouble a bit in past playoff series, as the C’s fell into 0-2 holes against the Hawks and Bulls in 2016 and 2017 before needed lineup shifts were made.
The stakes were even greater in this second round against the Bucks. With no home court advantage against the No. 1 seed in the East, the Celtics’ margin for error was even smaller than usual. A misstep early, especially when the Bucks were short-handed without Malcolm Brogdon, could change the entire series.
Stevens and his staff had a week to think on it, but it did not take them long to figure out a solution: Offense and spacing would be the priority with Morris getting the call. Boston was going to try to pull the Bucks out of their comfort zone and make them defend the perimeter.
“I knew I was starting when we won (over the Pacers),” Morris admitted after the game. “Once we swept them, I was in practice with the first team the entire time.”
“I think it worked to our advantage and I think it will work to our advantage during this series if we play it right,” Kyrie Irving declared. “(Morris) is in the right spot for the majority of the game. Marcus is always ready to play, as well as Baynes. You never want to see anyone go down but it’s interchangeable for us.”
It was a proactive move for the head coach and it paid immediate dividends in the Celtics’ 112-90 thrashing of the Bucks in Game 1 on Sunday. The new-look starting five played 12 minutes together and outscored the Bucks by 10 points, setting the tone at the start of each half with strong starts. Stevens explained his rationale for the decision afterward.
“I thought the group started the game, got good looks, played well together,” Stevens explained. “And then started the second half real well together. I thought Marcus’ size and yet the skill and ability to play in a smaller fashion made the most sense. Also wanted to keep Gordon coming off (the bench) and so we could play through some of his actions when those other guys went to the bench. So we’ll see how it looks when we go back and look at it on film. Obviously, I thought it was good.”
Boston opened up the game struggling from the perimeter, knocking down just two of their first eight attempts from 3-point range, but their game plan was flawless out of the gate. They were generating high-quality looks all over the floor and forcing a collapsing Bucks defense into tough spots, particularly among their less mobile frontcourt bigs.
“Brad just wanted me to space the floor, get Giannis away from the rim and those guys away from the rim. So I think we did that really well,” Morris said.
While the box score line was quite modest for Morris (nine points, seven rebounds, three blocks in 30 minutes), this was arguably the best game he played all postseason. He only tallied one assist on the night, but he repeatedly looked to make the extra pass in traffic, whether he was on the perimeter or in the paint. That unselfishness helped the Celtics turn good shots into great ones and led to a 36-21 demolition of the Bucks defense in the third quarter once shots started falling from the perimeter (8-of-14 from 3-point range after half).
Mook ➡️ T-Ro ? pic.twitter.com/Bjaf5AnuNq
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 28, 2019
❌? HORFORD ?❌ pic.twitter.com/DDLY6M002D
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 28, 2019
