Within the raucous confines of the BMO Harris Bradley Center, Jaylen Brown spearheaded a fearless comeback that would fall just short for the Celtics. In heartbreaking fashion, Giannis Antetokounmpo made a putback tip-in shot with 5.1 seconds left and Marcus Morris’s buzzer-beating shot attempt hit back iron, a score that would’ve sent the game into overtime.
That was Game 4. Tonight, the Celtics and Bucks square off at the TD Garden for a pivotal Game 5. Typically, the pressure of a Game 5 in a series tied at 2 apiece is on the home team—should they lose, they must face elimination on the opponent’s home court. However, this Celtics team is playing with house money. And although Milwaukee fans have passionately chanted “Bucks in six” dating back to the final regular season meeting between these two teams, history sides with the Celtics: Boston is 35-0 in franchise history when they have gone up 2-0 in a series whereas the Bucks are 0-17 after trailing 0-2. Plus, the Celtics won Game 5’s at home in series tied 2-2 last year on two separate occasions, one against the Bulls in the first round and the other versus the Wizards in the second round. But history aside, Game 5 should be a good one. Here are the two keys for the Celtics should they look to regain the series lead.
Avoid defensive switching with Antetokounmpo and Middleton
It has been crystal clear throughout the series that the Bucks’ offense runs through these two guys. In fact, Giannis and Middleton have averaged 27.8 and 25.5 PPG respectively through the first 4 games of the series. Given that Milwaukee has averaged 108.25 points per game in the series, these two players have combined to score over 49% their team’s points (!). Consequently, the Celtics must work harder by hedging and trying to recover on their pick and roll defense when at least one of these two guys is involved in the play. This is because Middleton and Giannis have been particularly successful when they get a smaller defender as a result of a lazy Celtics switch. Boston cannot continue to allow Middleton to back down Rozier or Larkin or have Giannis take anyone other than Horford, Ojeleye, Tatum, Brown, or Smart under the basket because if they don’t score themselves, they force a double-team that results in a kick out for an open shot or a pass to a cutter. Antetokounmpo and Middleton have been the only consistent scorers for the Bucks in the series, so it’s about time that Boston forces others to become playmakers.
Someone other than Marcus Morris must score off the bench
The Celtics have averaged 106.8 PPG this series. 86.7 PPG, roughly 81% of the offense, has come from five players: Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Terry Rozier, Marcus Morris, and Jaylen Brown. The only starter not on that list is Aaron Baynes, who has averaged 5.8 PPG in the series, exposing a glaring weakness on this Celtics roster—their lack of bench scoring. Obviously, throwing guys like Shane Larkin, Guerschon Yabusele, and Semi Ojeleye into the postseason fire is not ideal; none of them were playing in the NBA this time a year ago. Not having Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, and Daniel Theis for the playoffs also makes the bench less talented since typical bench players for the Celtics like Rozier and Baynes have been thrust into the starting lineup. But c’mon now, Boston needs someone other than Morris to step up and get buckets. Against a team like the Bucks, who are freakishly long at every position (Giannis, Maker, Middleton, Bledsoe, Snell, etc.), the C’s need to generate more quality, open looks (especially with Irving out). If some of the bench players can either penetrate and kick or score at the rim or aggressively move the ball side to side to force the Bucks defense to move and rotate, it’ll create more driving and passing lanes for those better looks. Brown and Tatum combining for the 2nd-most playoff points for a duo who were both younger than 22 years old is tremendous, as it speaks to how they are already stars, but for the Celtics to win this game tonight and this series, they must receive more contributions from the bench to diversify their offensive threats and keep the Bucks defense honest.
(Stats via ESPN)
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