MIAMI — Everyone would love to Moses Malone their way through the playoffs and go “Fo’ Fo’ Fo'” to the Finals (actually the 1983 Sixers went 4, 5, 4 to a championship, and they only played three rounds because the top seed got a first-round bye in those days), but that's not how things tend to work. It’s always more of a struggle than people anticipated.
After a seven-game slugfest against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Celtics came into Miami and dropped Game 1 without Marcus Smart or Al Horford. Now heading into Game 2, Smart is expected back but now Derrick White is out so he can be with his wife as she delivers their son.
“Yes, it's a, I don’t want to say ‘tough’ situation,” Ime Udoka said after the team’s Thursday morning shootaround. “We knew he was expecting a baby soon, and was gonna get induced in between some games, and things happen in life. And like I said, we support our guys and always want them to be there and in those situations with their family. But we've had guys out quite a bit this year, in this postseason, and had to make due.”
Making due is tough, but it does force the rest of the players on the team to raise their games. As FDR said, a smooth sea never made a skillful mariner, and navigating these obstacles all season long has prepared Boston for this kind of adversity to some degree.
“We beat Milwaukee without Marcus one game and three games without (Robert Williams) … it is what it is and you have to keep playing,” Udoka said. “Miami's gonna do what they do and we have to do the same.”
This is how teams are tested in the playoffs. There's always some level of injury luck that goes for and against a team. The Celtics benefitted from Khris Middleton missing the last series. Milwaukee might think they could have won another championship if not for a wet spot on the floor that cost their All-Star the series. Instead, they're on vacation now.
Boston has to find its way through absences now, with White on his way to a hospital in Boston and Horford possibly stuck in health and safety protocols for another day (he was, however, upgraded to questionable, so that's a positive step). Guys have been in and out of the lineup all year long, but there has been one constant: Boston is at its best when they play as a collective group, not when they rely on one guy.
Obviously, getting Smart back will put a much better defender on Jimmy Butler for more minutes, but as much as Butler was a killer on the floor for Miami, it was Boston’s inability to play cohesive basketball that really did them in.
According to Cleaning the Glass, Boston scored 84.7 points per 100 plays in the halfcourt in Game 1. Miami scored 112.2.
“I felt we had some good looks that we missed, but at times we settled for some contested ones when we had some driving angles,” Udoka said. “You have to recognize who's closing out on you, the defender, level of defender, and then think about your next teammate and getting him a wide open shot instead of a contested one. So there were some we could have taken back, and Miami is very similar to Milwaukee in that way they pack that paint, and then close outs, you want to play against those close outs and get better looks for others.”
No matter how many people are down, and no matter how hot the other team is, the Celtics' best chance at winning Game 2 and stealing home court is to play together. The collective of the Celtics is still pretty good, even if they're missing someone, and even though they have two elite wings.
“We have to find a balance like we did in Game 6 against Milwaukee. That was one of our best,” Udoka said. “We got to the basket and then found shooters as well. It’s always on us to put our guys in position to get downhill and find favorable matchups to get to the basket and then exploit the outside when guys over-help.”
Miami’s defense can be exploited. The adversity can be overcome. But it can only happen if these guys get back to playing together.