MILWAUKEE -- Kyrie Irving put a huge spotlight on his postseason performance after preaching in the midst of a tumultuous regular season that nothing matters except for the playoffs. That attitude worked out quite well for the first five games of the postseason, but with the door open for the Celtics to take a commanding 2-0 series lead, the All-Star point guard fell flat on his face.
Irving’s nine points on 4-of-18 shooting from the field (1-of-5 from 3-point range) was the lowest scoring total of his postseason career in a game in which he did not get injured. There are always bad shooting nights in the NBA, but the way the 26-year-old put this one together should leave Celtics fans searching for answers after a masterful Game 1. For a guy who counts Kobe Bryant as a mentor, Irving paid tribute to the shooting guard’s Game 7 performance (6-of-24) in the 2010 NBA Finals by trying to put his team on his back for the better part of the first three quarters and dragging the Celtics down in the process.
How exactly did the Bucks turn a guy that was picking their defense apart in Game 1 into a net negative in Game 2? Milwaukee made a winning bet about the point guard that ensured the Celtics offense would not be able to keep pace with their offensive firepower.
Selling out on Kyrie
Mike Budenholtzer and his staff talked down any adjustments they were going to make in this contest, but that all ended up being a smokescreen. The head coach made a committed shift on the defensive end with his strategy, encouraging his guys to switch more than any time during the regular season on picks and screens. Irving sensed this and tried to take advantage repeatedly of drawing bigger defenders on him in mismatches by working his way into the paint. However, Budenholzer was a step ahead of Irving’s counter. He figured the point guard would try to take over when he noticed this advantage so he compensated for it on nearly every possession.
No matter what, a big man was going to be waiting for Irving at the basket on nearly every single drive he made into the paint. Whether it was Brook Lopez, Nikola Mirotic, Giannis Antetokounmpo or Ersan Ilyasova, help was always waiting and the net results were not good for Irving. He made just two of his eight shots in the restricted area while facing crowds like this.
Bledsoe blocked Kyrie with his ELBOW ? pic.twitter.com/ZaNe5W8r2u
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 1, 2019
Nice tweak by the Bucks here. They really struggled with small/small pick and rolls in Game 1. Here Tatum screens for Kyrie and instead of a drop they switch. Good individual defense by Middleton vs. Kyrie, something to watch going forward. pic.twitter.com/TIIsebLjrW
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) May 1, 2019
Celtics had Brown screen for Kyrie to try and get a mismatch. Bucks made the adjustment to switch those screens this time. It's Kyrie vs. Connaughton 1v1, Boston has to find ways to get a plus out of these mismatches/matchups. A pullup 3 is his shot but he had a lot of space. pic.twitter.com/EK5f9UVo1j
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) May 1, 2019