Brad Stevens needs to get proactive to give Celtics a chance in Game 5

Brad Stevens has spent the last eight months trying to figure this collection of talent out. He sensed something wasn’t right with them as early as the preseason, becoming one of the few coaches I can remember who called out their squad for a lack of effort in an exhibition contest.

While he has managed to steady the ship towards the tail end of the regular season and the first round, Mike Budenholtzer has won the head-to-head coaching battle convincingly since Game 1. Stevens started the series on a high note by inserting Marcus Morris into the starting five, but things have gone downhill from there as the Bucks made necessary tweaks.

Morris has remained one of the Celtics best players in this series and the starting lineup that Stevens commissioned is actually outscoring the Bucks by 13 points over the past four games. They have been doing their job at the start of each half but ever since Game 1, the rest of the Celtics lineups have not. Budenholtzer has made the right adjustments by inserting more shooters into the lineup alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, leaning heavily on his backcourt reserves through their hot hands (George Hill, Pat Connaughton) and committing to switching regularly on the defensive end, a stark contrast to their usual playing style that the Celtics haven't found an answer for.

Stevens has attempted to counter these moves but nothing he has gone with is working consistently, a familiar trend for this Celtics team that failed to put together 48 minute efforts all year long. Now, with Boston’s season on the line, no one expects the visitors to put up much of a fight tonight (9.5 point underdogs). Stevens can’t control whether or not the shots fall for this group in a tough road environment, but his willingness to be proactive in Game 5 will set the tone for whether this season ends with some fight or another embarrassing defeat. Where should Stevens focus his efforts? A few areas worth watching.

Kyrie Irving

Stevens has hitched his wagon to his only All-Star all year long, defending him through his off-court trials and tribulations while handing him a bigger share of the minute pie as the season has continued. This mentality made sense prior to the Bucks series given Irving’s superb play on the floor and the need for this team to keep him happy over the long haul heading in to free agency. Of course, Stevens is going to cater to him.

However, as the stakes have been raised, Irving has showcased more of his ugly habits against a Milwaukee team happy to exploit them. The Bucks are daring Irving to take bad shots and he’s done that plenty over the past three games while shooting 30 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3. A shooting slump is understandable but it can’t be accompanied by a lackluster commitment to defense. Stevens saw the same improvisation on film that we’ve been harping on here at BSJ and you can bet Irving calling to switch onto Giannis was not part of the gameplan.

Stevens defended Irving publicly after Game 4, as he should, downplaying the extent of the errors while failing to call him out by name.

“I mean when I left the gym last night before watching the film, I really felt that way,” Stevens said on Tuesday of the switches on Giannis. “I didn’t feel watching it there were as many that really hurt us, I just thought when we did get switched, we didn’t say, ‘Okay, there is a threat, and the biggest threat in the room is the guy with the ball on one of our smalls.’ I think there are times where you have to switch appropriately, but at that time you really have to sell out to his drives and help each other. Obviously, we want to keep size on him as much as possible. I did not think we always did that well in transition and I did not think we always did that well throughout some of their actions. But it wasn’t quite as bad when I went back and reviewed film as I thought in person. There certainly were some bad ones.”

However, with the season on the line, only Stevens can put a stop to this kind of improvisation when it happens. If Irving is pulling this kind of stuff on defense, he needs to be on the bench since it’s essentially gifting the Bucks two points. The point guard is usually going to be a net negative on defense but by riding him for 24 minutes in the second half on a poor shooting night on Monday, Stevens opened the door for this type of decisionmaking. He needs to wield a tighter fist in Game 5 when it comes to the defensive effort and hold everyone accountable for playing the right way and with effort.

Stopping third quarter runs

Three straight games now, Stevens has seen the game be essentially decided by a monster run in the third quarter with the Bucks best players off the floor. Whether or not the Celtics are inadvertently letting their guard down when Giannis is out of the game is unclear, but it’s evident at this point they aren’t giving Hill the respect he deserves through four games as he's keyed the past two big runs.

When the Bucks bench comes in playing with energy, it’s time for Stevens to matchup accordingly. Marcus Smart should be saved to guard Hill to prevent easy forays into the paint and open 3-point looks. Other defensive-minded players (Aron Baynes, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford) should be utilized to show some grit against the energy of Connaughton and Hill. The Celtics are clearly incapable of digging out of any deep holes at this stage of the game against a rested Antetokounmpo so the main priority for Stevens needs to be finding a group that won’t give up ground. Giving Irving a rest during this stage of the game may not be the worst idea either given his propensity for defensive lapses.

A short leash with the bench

Gordon Hayward was absolutely dreadful for most of Game 4, yet managed to pile up 26 minutes. Terry Rozier played a costly 13 minutes and is shooting 26.9 percent from the field this series while providing minimal impact in other facets of the game.

Stevens took some of the heat for the struggles of both players after Game 4, acknowledging he has put both in some tough spots.

“I’m not doing a very good job with that group, getting them into their spots and giving them a chance to soar with what they do best and make plays for other people,” Stevens said. "I think that’s something I have to do a better job of, and I think that they’ll both play well (Wednesday). I think obviously when you’re playing that shorter stint like Terry, that’s just a challenge in and of itself. You just have impact the game any way you can. And I thought Gordon, like a lot of our guys, made a lot of the right plays there in the first half or in the first 30 minutes of the game, driving, kicking and making the right plays. He just hasn’t seen the ball go in as much, but he hasn’t had a lot of opportunity either. I think there’s a combination of things that need to happen, but I need to do a better job of getting us organized with both groups, but especially that second group.”

Stevens has maintained the faith in his bench all year long with the hope for a payoff in the postseason but he can’t be married to the idea of playing either of these guys meaningful minutes on a night when they don’t have it going. Both of them will get a chance but they need to be bringing something to the table if they are going to get meaningful run with the season on the line. Stevens needs to stop worrying about not hurting feelings or protecting egos, since that’s the mentality that helped to get this team into a predicament in the first place. It's no coincidence that both have been on the floor during the game-changing runs in the third quarter, even after struggling in the first half of both games in Boston.

Protect the paint/make life tough for Giannis

With Game 4 on the line in the fourth quarter on Monday, Stevens rolled out Marcus Morris at the center spot against a Bucks lineup that featured Brook Lopez and Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee proceeded to score on its next four possessions.

“I thought that because of their versatility on the court, I wanted to change up for a minute and give him a break,” Stevens said of resting Horford. “In an ideal world, I'd bring him out earlier so he could be on the court right there. As we were in that situation, they went up 10 and we made a little comeback to five and I didn't want to take him out at that standpoint. That was more of a, 'Hey, let's try this and see if it works,' but in an ideal world, Al Horford is in there at that time and I would have gotten him a break earlier.”

I’m not in favor of playing Horford bigger minutes given how much time he has had to spend on Giannis defensively, but Stevens has to be smarter in this game about how he’s playing Giannis when Horford is not in the game. Baynes and Ojeleye played a combined six minutes in Game 4 and just two in the second half and it’s no coincidence that’s when the Bucks erupted for 66 points in the final frame. By not playing either with Horford on the bench in the fourth quarter, Stevens put the Celtics defense in a very tough position. He can’t take away everything from the Bucks offense, but giving them high percentage shots at the rim has to stop. Playing Baynes or Ojeleye with Horford at times (to give him a break from Giannis) isn't the worst idea either when the big man is going to have a heavy shooting onus on the offensive end. It's the strategy that worked last year when Ojeleye was inserted into the starting five in Game 5.

Final Thoughts

Successfully executing all of these moves won’t necessarily produce a win in Game 5. It may not even produce a close game if the Bucks are hitting their 3s. However, it will produce more of a fight, something the Celtics simply have not had in them during the past few fourth quarters. Irving, Hayward and company are going to simply have to play a lot better on the offensive end to give Boston a chance to extend their season but the onus starts with Stevens to put the right pieces on the floor at the right times. He needs to be proactive in avoiding the big runs that have done this team in all year long.

Just like the players on this team, Stevens is capable of more. With the right tweaks, the Celtics have a chance tonight. Otherwise, a four-game losing streak will cap one of the biggest disappointments of a season in franchise history.