BSJ Game Report: Bucks 117, Celtics 113 - Another frustrating late-game collapse

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics 117-113 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics came out strong and build a lead as high as 19 in the first half, but the Bucks dominated in the second half, especially the third quarter. The Celtics had another late lead in the fourth, but once again their late-game execution was not good, and the Bucks stole the win.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Another late collapse: The Celtics were outscored 21-4 over the last 5:28 of the game. That stretch saw Jayson Tatum turn it over twice, each of them becoming Wesley Matthews 3-pointers. They only hit one basket in that stretch. 

The Greek Freak is an appropriate nickname: Tatum got to the rim with 10 seconds left and the Celtics down 3. He ran into Giannis Antetokounmpo and gave the ball up to Robert Williams. Giannis turned and blocked the dunk attempt in a blink to seal the game. That was one of the best defensive plays you’re going to see. 

Just gotta shrug: They were relying on Juancho Hernangomez and Jabari Parker to switch onto Antetokounmpo. It’s a wonder the Celtics were even in a position to blow a lead. 

TURNING POINT 

The Celtics led by 13 with 5:28 left, but Antetokounmpo had two dunks and a jumper, with a Wesley Matthews 3-pointer mix in, for a 9-0 run that gave the Bucks life. They didn’t actually take the lead until there were :30 left, but this run is where the Celtics got shook.

SECOND GUESS

The book on Jabari Parker is very clear: He usually only has one good stretch in him, and then he’s done. It’s like one of those old single-use ice packs that you used to pop and shake. It’s useful for a short time, and when it’s done, it’s done. 

Parker gave the Celtics a good stretch, scoring 6 points and building Boston’s lead back up to 12 after it was cut to 4 heading into the fourth quarter. Ime Udoka reinserted him at the 5:28 mark and he immediately made defensive mistakes, including just clearing out of Antetokounmpo’s way and giving up an easy dunk. He came out after 1:14 and a 7-0 Bucks run. 

Never reinsert Parker after a good stretch. Always be happy that you got something good when you did, and then move on. 

TWO UP 

Payton Pritchard: Not once in this game did I think the Celtics needed Dennis Schröder. Pritchard’s shooting has been great and it’s clear that giving him minutes is very necessary. Yes, he got targeted defensively down the stretch, so he might not be part of closing lineups, but his floor spacing is clearly necessary for large portions of the game. 

Robert Williams: A very active game from him. He had 14 rebounds, 6 of which came on the offensive glass. He also had 4 assists. The evidence is mounting to have him out there on his own whenever Al Horford comes back, at least for the majority of the game. There might be a need to go double-big in some closing lineups, but it just makes more sense to have him out there with space for guys to cut and catch passes. 

TWO DOWN

Jayson Tatum: He started out great, so it’s a little bit of a stretch to say he had a down game. But the fourth-quarter execution down the stretch pushes him into this category. This is a damning stat: 

Hard to lay claim to that elite status when you can’t finish games.

Jaylen Brown: He started out blistering hot, going for 14 points on 6-7 shooting in the first quarter. He went 2-11 the rest of the way for 11 points, including a 1-5 fourth quarter. 

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Late game follies: I’ll get more into this in a separate piece, but the late game boils down to this: If the offense is going to devolve into hunting mismatches for Tatum and Brown to exploit, then they need to exploit them. If they can’t then the Celtics need to run a different offense. 

It’s just that simple. 

I’m fine with the late-game isolation if that puts other teams into a “pick your poison” scenario and Tatum and Brown are picking teams apart. And maybe this is the process of them getting to that point. 

“If we get wide open shots, that’s the point of what we’re running,” Udoka said. “It was a favorable matchup, they were trying to double Jayson and he got off the ball, and then the guy has to make shots. Then he got downhill and we had some turnovers there. But the shot quality, what we got, was good at the end. We just didn’t make them.”

Fair enough. However, this seems to be the case very often this season. At some point it feels wiser to use Marcus Smart as your actual point guard and run some actions with Tatum and Brown for them to make moves off the catch rather than off the dribble. They can still run picks for one another to force switches, but they can do it off-ball. 

The Celtics are now 1-8 in games decided by five points or less. It might be time to try something a little different.