Game 2 Final: Celtics 109, Bucks 86 - Impressive response to salvage split

ROUND 2, GAME 2
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee leads 1-0
TD Garden
7:00 PM - TNT

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams

Milwaukee: Jrue Holiday, Wesley Matthews, Bobby Portis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- UPDATE: Smart is out with a right quad contusion. 

“Swelling, pain, restricted movement. So obviously swelling and he got hit pretty hard, so just some limited movement that didn’t get better over the day as we thought it would,” Ime Udoka said. “I don’t think it’s long term. He’s got hit and missed some games in the past, but probably with the three days off, we assume he’ll be OK.”

Derrick White gets the start. 

- Khris Middleton (knee) and George Hill (abdominal strain) are out for Milwaukee

- Boston is favored by 4.5

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER

- Celtics need to fix the offense, fast.

It’s funny how the pressure of the postseason, and an elite defense, can uncover some underlying flaws. 

Milwaukee put the HD camera on the Celtics, 30 Rock-style, and we saw how tough it was for Boston to get into an offensive flow, and how quickly they reverted back to some old habits. 

“Defense we were pretty solid in what we did,” Grant Williams said at the team’s morning shootaround today. “They scored on 1-on-1s. Normally that’s not enough to beat you, but offense really allowed them to get 28 points in transition and, more than that, in second chance and everywhere else. For us it’s working those kinks out and defending at a high level. We’ll adjust some things, but continue to approach defense that way.”

The Celtics had two major issues in Game 1: Turnovers and taking too many bad 3-pointers. Simply taking better shots will ultimately lead to better offense, which helps the defense. 

“We took too many contested ones,” Udoka said. “I mean, still decent shots for our guys but opportunities to drive against closeouts against big guys rotating on the perimeter and so they are going to protect the paint and kind of rotate from there, and what we showed was all the opportunities we had to play the second side and get a paint touch, and when we did that, 10 or so really, really good plays of the ball moving side to side, multiple paint touches. We got wide open looks from three or something at the basket.”

The early shot clock 3’s were the worst. The Celtics need to focus more on driving and kicking, and then getting into multiple attacks. However, this time when they drive, they need to make quicker decisions with the ball. 

“We just played in the crowd too much,” Udoka said. “Taking one extra dribble when you can get off the ball … so instead of taking that dribble, trying to beat your man and the guy that’s in the shift getting off the ball and letting somebody else make a play. There was a little bit of that, but I wouldn’t say it affected us as much as just playing in a crowd more so and not seeing our outlets and our drop offs. They were all open all over the court.”

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. Attacking their pressure: Things changed in the first quarter of Game 1 when the Bucks started picking up full court. The Celtics should actually be inviting this kind of defense because it naturally spreads out players whose strength is in protecting the paint. So watch for the Celtics to get creative against the pressure to create situations where defenders are trapped behind the play and Boston can go 5-on-4 or 4-on-3. 

This alley oop to Robert Williams is a good example of that. 

“At every level of basketball against pressure there’s three things you can do,” Grant Williams said. “You can screen it, you can beat it, or you can just basically kind of play with it, like kind of get up the court and set up your offense because oftentimes when they're not trapping you, not many people are picking you off 1v1. So it's just a matter of which one you want one to attack it with.”

2. Involving Robert Williams: Williams is the guy who can break down the Bucks defense. If he’s not getting the ball in positions to make them pay for how they guard and rotate, then the Celtics are wasting his talent. 

But it’s not all just teammates finding him. 

“I always gotta give those guys an outlet, but not necessarily just dump-offs and lobs,” he said. “I have to find areas to be an outlet for those guys, knowing (Lopez) is going to help a lot. Just me reading, being more active on the baseline, seeing about opportunities to attack, see how I can help those guys.”

Being more active on the baseline is a key. He needs to understand where the defense is going and how to find the soft spots to be a threat. He also needs to actively call for the ball. Milwaukee is big. A simple raised hand calling for the ball could be very helpful.

3. A more focused Jaylen Brown: This is not a commentary on Brown’s choice to celebrate Ramadan. He is obviously free to observe whichever religion he chooses, but it’s not out of bounds to note that an observance that requires fasting from sunrise to sundown will have a physical impact on a professional athlete. 

And so the ability to eat and drink properly and get back into a routine will be helpful. He doesn’t have to wake up before sunrise anymore to get his nutrients and then go back to sleep. He doesn’t have to flood his body with things after sunset, which is well into the first quarter of a game. He can simply get back to his regular nutritional routine.

So that, with the added motivation of making up for a high-turnover game that led to a lot of Milwaukee points makes me feel like Brown will be better and more focused in this game. That will go a long way to getting him back at his normal dangerous level of play. 

A LITTLE MORE

I get into a few things that can go better, go worse, and a few adjustments in the latest Locked On Celtics podcast, which can watch below, or subscribe wherever you get podcasts. 

GAME THREAD

Stick around for more comments below as the game goes on. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments