BSJ Game report: Celtics 122, Bucks 119 - C's avoid late collapse, essentially lock up top seed

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Bucks, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

Jayson Tatum and Derrick White came out hot while the Celtics' defense kept Damian Lillard in check in the first quarter, leading to an early five-point lead. Payton Pritchard took control to start the second quarter and push the lead up to 18, but Lillard got going and the lead was 13 at the half. Milwaukee came out hot to start the third but Boston stayed the course and answered strong, getting the lead up to 21 at one point. The Bucks dominated most of the fourth quarter and got the game down to one possession, but Tatum got a couple of big buckets and the Celtics were able to close it out.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Not the best finish: A combination of bad execution and bad luck helped Milwaukee erase most of the 21-point Boston lead. The Celtics seemed to think that they could shoot their way past Milwaukee’s zone defense and when they missed some good looks, the Bucks ran and scored. They closed the deal in the final minutes to Boston’s (and Tatum’s) credit. 

- Payton Pritchard, energy guy: He was a difference-maker in the first half. He owned the second quarter. 

“Payton has the heart of a lion,” White said. “He don’t back down from anybody. He looks forward to matchups like this. He looks forward to hooping, period. It doesn’t matter if it’s a blowout or if it’s a big game like this. You love to play with a guy like that. He just loves to hoop and he’s the ultimate competitor. It was big time what he did for us in the first half, and really in the second half, too. So every time he’s in there he helps us win games.”

- East essentially locked up: The magic number is now down to three to clinch the East, but it might as well be two because the Celtics are also very close to locking up the tiebreaker against Milwaukee. They're up 2-1 with one more to play, and if they end up tied, the next relevant tiebreaker is conference record, which Boston owns comfortably at the moment. Nothing is official yet, but it will be soon. 

TURNING POINT 

Tatum, who had been scoreless in the second half (zero shots in the third quarter), scored his first points at the most opportune time after Bobby Portis cut the lead to 3 with just under three minutes to go. Tatum attacked twice, scoring four quick points, and it was just enough to hold off the Bucks. Tatum scored eight points in the final 2:06 of the game. 

THINGS I LIKED

- The third quarter: Let’s contrast the third and the fourth for a second. In the third, Boston gave up a big run but calmly answered it and built their lead back out to 20. In the fourth, the Celtics lost their energy and settled too much. The third quarter is the blueprint for how to handle the fourth when a team makes a run. 

- Pritchard: I’m trying to figure out how to write this part without devolving into the same locker room cliches about him being a dog and a competitor, but it’s very difficult. Those are the things that make Pritchard who he is. The rebound he ripped away from Brook Lopez is the kind of thing you see at the end of a bad basketball movie where you’re like “there’s no way that little dude is grabbing that rebound from that big guy! At least make this movie realistic!” 

But that's Pritchard. 

- Jaylen Brown: The stuff he’s doing on both ends is really turning into an amazing story. He was instrumental offensively in that great third quarter response. 

And he took the challenge of guarding Lillard. Of course, Lillard hit some tough shots, but he had to work for his points. The stats don’t show how strong Brown was defensively in this game.

- Tatum’s finish: Isn’t this what you want stars to do? Yes, it would have been nice if he started the scoring a little earlier in the quarter, but eight points in the final two minutes to hold off a potential ECF opponent seems pretty good, no?

- Derrick White: I thought for a second that tonight’s big story was going to be White’s closing kick. He found himself open four different times, making two 3-pointers. If the end result of Boston’s fourth-quarter offense is going to be wide-open looks for White, then the Celtics will win a lot more before the season is over. 

- This offensive rebound by Porzingis

This is what we love to call a big boy rebound. That's wanting it more. That's the kind of play that wins a playoff series. 

… I swear I’m not getting paid by the cliche tonight. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Zone offense/4th quarter execution: It’s not that they didn’t get decent looks. They actually did. What I didn’t like is that things slowed down as much as they did. A lot of that had to do with the Bucks zone (more in a minute) which changed the entire tempo of the game and allowed the Bucks to get into transition. 

The Celtics needed better execution in this spot. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Stop slowing down late in games!

As confident as I am that this is a special season that will result in a championship, I absolutely hate how they slow things down in fourth quarters. They willingly get away from their strengths, which is about challenging defenses to make quick decisions about having to guard multiple players who can kill them. 

When the game grinds down to a halt and the time winds down, the Celtics are doing the defense a favor because they are eliminating options the defense would otherwise have to consider. 

It’s like taking a multiple-choice exam where the first 20 questions have five possible answers that are all similar, but then the final five questions have two options. The odds of even guessing right go up by a lot. 

I was thrilled to hear Brown have a similar feeling after this game.

“It doesn’t have to (slow down),” he said. “As long as you take care of the ball you can still play with pace, still play with speed. We don’t got to go into these slow isolation plays. We can still get out and run good offense and have pace. I think that’s something we can definitely work on. Just because a game is in the fourth quarter doesn’t mean we have to play slower. We just need to take care of the basketball. But we can still play with pace.”

Hallelujah. 

Just playing with better pace will fix most of their late-game execution problems. And even if the Celtics turn the ball over once or twice, it’s no big deal. How different is that from their normal execution anyway? They had three fourth-quarter turnovers as it was. They are great a protecting the ball for most of the game, so why not trust that down the stretch?

Stop changing the style of play that made you a historically great offense. Dare teams to stop you at your best. You’re not doing yourselves any favors, Celtics. 

Next up: The Celtics head out on one last extended road trip starting in Detroit Friday night