The Celtics Game 1 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks can be whittled down to three distinct areas:
3-point shot selection
Bad decisions/missed opportunities
I’ve decided to do three separate pieces to highlight each of these areas. There will be overlapping themes to all of three of these since they're all offensive-focused.
The Celtics and 3-point shooting are the NBA version of the Mandelbaums on Seinfeld. They never met a challenge they can pass up and it generally ends up with the experiencing some kind of pain.
The Milwaukee Bucks dare teams to shoot because their number one priority is taking away paint points. They are willing to take their chances with 3-pointers because they can generally contest enough of them to keep opponent percentages within an acceptable range.
Opponents, like the Celtics last night, oblige by falling in love with the open and semi-open looks they're getting. Teams can honestly say “hey those were good looks,” but the Celtics can still admit that there were more than a few missed opportunities.
“Had a lot of opportunities to attack the basket and get some easy baskets inside, some paint points, and settled for too many contested threes,” Ime Udoka said. “Liked a lot of the looks we got, wide-open ones, but opportunities to penetrate and kick and draw some guys. And so, shouldn't have to take any contested threes in the series because of how they guard.”
The Celtics, especially in the first half, were drawn into a more frantic pace than they're used to, which led to some of the poor shot selection.
“There were a lot of times we were rushed or could've got a better look,” Derrick White said. “That's what they're giving up defensively. So we'll look for open shots that we can knock down and we'll do a better job tomorrow."
They’ll have to.
Here’s Jaylen Brown taking a shot after one pass. I’ve already established in the look at Boston’s turnovers that he was singular-minded in Game 1, looking to score above all else. This was an example of that.
Here are a few reasons why this is a bad shot.
1: It involves no teammates: This is one minute into the game and Brown is jacking up the first touch he gets on the perimeter. He has to get teammates involved in the game early so they can be threats later.
2: You have no idea if a better shot is available. As Udoka said, the Bucks guard in a way that gives teams plenty of open 3-pointers. That ball is going up with 18 seconds on the shot clock. Work the clock a little bit, dictate the pace of the game, and see if there are chances at better shots or getting fouled.
3: Milwaukee’s defense doesn’t move. Watch Brook Lopez in the bottom right. He might as well send Jaylen a thank you note for the possession off. Quick shots mean rest for the other team.
Same exact situation except it’s Marcus Smart who takes the shot. He makes it, but it’s not free of criticism. Everything I said applies to this shot as well.
In fact, I’d say the quick make is counterproductive because it leads to this:
Another quick 3 from Smart, this one is more contested. Again, there's no ball movement, no need for any of the Bucks defenders to work hard, and it keeps teammates flat-footed.
There's no mental engagement in these plays for anyone off the ball. There's no guesswork by Milwaukee. Meanwhile, because an early one went down for Smart, he’s probably feeling good about his shooting in this game. The fact is he went away from a lot of the things in this game that turned his shooting around as the team’s starting point guard.
This type of stuff becomes contagious in a game like this. Other shooters on the floor are used to getting the ball swung to them. When they see quick 3-pointers going up, they tend to want to shoot their shots as well.
Here’s how it’s supposed to look:
This is that .5 basketball that Udoka wants. Tatum is quick with his decision on the catch, and now Horford is in an advantageous situation. For a hot second, this is basically a 3-on-2 situation and Horford quickly reads that White is open in the corner.
When the Celtics actually run their offense, they can score and get good shots against any defense. When they want to do things on their own, they tend to play into their opponent’s hands.
Here, though, is a nice little lesson for Brown at the end of the game.
Brown gives it up (a little late, but he does). He falls, but he still has time to get up, relocate to the left corner, and lo and behold, the ball finds him for an open corner 3-pointer.
Everyone did their job on this play. Brown collapsed the defense and relocated. Three other guys swung the ball. Grant Williams set a back screen that kept Bobby Portis from recovering. It was great.
Early shot-clock 3-pointers, unless they're incredibly wide open, can often be passed up in search of better looks. A defense like Milwaukee’s MUST be put to the test. It has to be made to work hard for stops or else they're just saving their energy to torch you on offense.
Every early 3-pointer puts added pressure on your own defense to get back off a miss and defend against fresh legs. Every long rebound can trigger a 3-on-2, create cross-matches, and foul opportunities.
The easiest adjustment the Celtics can make for Game 2 is being more judicious with their 3-point shooting. They’ll get plenty of shots from deep. Milwaukee will give up as many as Boston wants to take.
However, as many as the Celtics want to take, Milwaukee probably hopes they take more. The next right play for Boston isn’t always taking the 3 that's in front of them. They have to turn Milwaukee’s greatest strength into their greatest weakness by constantly putting pressure on that defense to collapse over and over and over again until it implodes under the pressure of Boston’s offense.