Eastern Conference | Round 2 | (2) Boston Celtics VS. (3) Milwaukee Bucks (TIED 2-2)

[SK21209]

Boston's Game 2 performance can't just be chalked up as a hot shooting night. In Game 1 the Celtics would run their initial action, kick out to a spot up shooter and take the shot the Bucks wanted them to take. In the first half of Game 2, they were much better about reading and reacting after that initial action and passing up pretty good shots for better ones. If they keep getting those wide open threes in the flow of their offense, they can certainly sustain pretty high percentages.

Also, the Giannis-Lopez-Porter lineup is having a very hard time scoring. The Bucks may have to sacrifice a bit of rim protection to jumpstart the offense against this great Celtics defense, and when that happens Boston needs to be ready to attack the paint again.

[Triple M]

I think it's a little disingenuous to argue that Bud has done nothing to adjust to Boston's defense.

In Game 1, the offensive gameplan worked perfectly. They got open looks and won by double digits with Giannis having a poor shooting night and missing shots he normally makes.

In Game 2 they shot themselves in the foot early with dumb play from Giannis and Jrue. Bud has never been great at adjusting in game, but by the time it mattered yesterday the game was over.

All of that said, I'm not worried about our defense or Boston hitting 20 threes at a 47% clip again. If they sustain that, they're winning the title regardless. I am worried about the adjustment Bud makes between Game 2 and 3 offensively. That will be key.

Both defences have found success more than not, but too much emphasis is put on the results of 20 3s instead of how they did it. If the Celtics move the ball, cut, and keep it moving, they could find success on all 3 levels. The Bucks will probably look to slow down the Celtics and kill rhythm, which they have done most of the series. So to me, this series will be a defensive grind, and the team that dictates the pace will edge their opponent.

[SK21209]

I think it's a little disingenuous to argue that Bud has done nothing to adjust to Boston's defense.

In Game 1, the offensive gameplan worked perfectly. They got open looks and won by double digits with Giannis having a poor shooting night and missing shots he normally makes.

In Game 2 they shot themselves in the foot early with dumb play from Giannis and Jrue. Bud has never been great at adjusting in game, but by the time it mattered yesterday the game was over.

All of that said, I'm not worried about our defense or Boston hitting 20 threes at a 47% clip again. If they sustain that, they're winning the title regardless. I am worried about the adjustment Bud makes between Game 2 and 3 offensively. That will be key.

Both defences have found success more than not, but too much emphasis is put on the results of 20 3s instead of how they did it. If the Celtics move the ball, cut, and keep it moving, they could find success on all 3 levels. The Bucks will probably look to slow down the Celtics and kill rhythm, which they have done most of the series. So to me, this series will be a defensive grind, and the team that dictates the pace will edge their opponent.

According to Statemuse the Bucks were top ten in pace this year while the Celtics were in the bottom ten. Interestingly, I think each team wants to go in the other direction in this series. As we saw last night, the Celtics want to get the ball up the floor, get into their actions, play read-and react and never let the Bucks defense settle in. The Bucks, rather, I think want to walk the ball up the floor, play through Giannis, and lean on their size and physicality.

It reminds me a bit of the 2016 Spurs-Thunder series. The Spurs had played really slow all year but wanted to speed things up because the Thunder were prone to breakdowns in coverage on their second, third, fourth rotations. The Thunder had played much faster all year and were the much more athletic team, but paradoxically were better served by playing slower, crashing the offensive boards and limiting the number of possessions of the game so the superior talent of KD and Russ would carry the day.

[Curmudgeon]

With Smart out, the Celtics played with seven men and they did not have the bodies to play racehorse basketball. They were gassed in the 4th quarter.

[AussieCeltic]

I think it's a little disingenuous to argue that Bud has done nothing to adjust to Boston's defense.

In Game 1, the offensive gameplan worked perfectly. They got open looks and won by double digits with Giannis having a poor shooting night and missing shots he normally makes.

In Game 2 they shot themselves in the foot early with dumb play from Giannis and Jrue. Bud has never been great at adjusting in game, but by the time it mattered yesterday the game was over.

All of that said, I'm not worried about our defense or Boston hitting 20 threes at a 47% clip again. If they sustain that, they're winning the title regardless. I am worried about the adjustment Bud makes between Game 2 and 3 offensively. That will be key.

Both defences have found success more than not, but too much emphasis is put on the results of 20 3s instead of how they did it. If the Celtics move the ball, cut, and keep it moving, they could find success on all 3 levels. The Bucks will probably look to slow down the Celtics and kill rhythm, which they have done most of the series. So to me, this series will be a defensive grind, and the team that dictates the pace will edge their opponent.

Celtics averaged 18 3’s a game against the Bucks in 4 regular season game and hit at 41%. Throw out the first game which featured Schroder, Richardson, Langford and the team shooting 12/41 and we’re essentially averaging the same as last game.

If you’re giving up wide open 3s then the Celtics are going to shoot 40%-50% on those shots.

[Pachinko_]

What I am confused by is Bucks fans hated Coach Bud, calling for his head for years and because they won the chip last year he is suddenly a great coach.

He was always a great coach, actually a great coaching team considering he has dudes like Taylor Jenkins under him until recently.
We hated him because he was doing inexplicable things like refusing to play Giannis more than 30 minutes in playoffs series that we lost. Then he stopped doing inexplicable things and we loved him again, and if he loses this series we will probably hate him again. How do you think he's doing in this series? So far I can't say I'm loving it, way too many open threes and not enough Giannis P&R when the offense gets stuck.

Doesn't help that the Bucks share about as much info with the fans as the Sicilian mafia shares with the police, so we don't actually know what is going on anyway. Just going by gut feel.

[Fencer reregistered]

Giannis and Jrue were awful in the first half of game 2. Bucks will need less point Giannis and more Jrue initiated pick n rolls + better ball movement. Other than that they're fine. The whistle always favors the home team in the playoffs so I expect the ticky tack **** constantly called on the Bucks when they had some momentum won't happen in Games 3/4. Bucks won't shoot 16% from 3 again and the C's wont shoot 47%. Need to lose two in order to win in 6!

This series so far disproves that claim.

[Pachinko_]

I'll happily concede that after 30 years of playing and watching basketball I just don't know NBA rules. No idea what is supposed to be a foul or a travel in this League anymore, just some dudes running around with a ball until the ref randomly stops them, and I just accept it. Otherwise it would drive me mad.

PS Of course I join in in booing the refs and complaining about them, it's part of the fun

[celticfan42487]

I wonder how long Budenholzer is going to keep riding Lopez in the starting line-up when he clearly never should be in this series. I thought he learned his lesson last year, but some of these coaches refuse to see what's in front of them.

*Never* feels harsh. He got hosed by the refs yesterday, but he's been solid overall, especially protecting the rim.

Yeah idk what is meant by that but as a Celtic fan I feel the pain every minute Lopez is on the court. His rim protection is feeling like the best in the NBA perhaps due to the system of the Bucks but in that role he's made it impossible for us to attack the rim.

I've never seen someone block Rob on a dunk clean and Lopez did that, he's stymied Tatum twice now on drives, and just in general the entire Celtic team knows if Lopez is at the rim we can't score there.

His impact on what he's stopping for the Celtics offense is massive. Giannis replicates it with Portis to a very very good degree when he's out of the game but when both Giannis and Lopez are in the game... just big oof. Can't even get near the rim.

Let's see how effective Giannis as a screener is in game 3, if Boston can't stop that (which it looked like we couldn't and personale wise only Rob Williams is equipped to be an off ball rim protector to help with that action) then this series is over as the Bucks will score 65% from the floor.

If they can find a reasonable reply to that action than this is looking like a close series where the Bucks will score on most of their possessions but more of the 2 point variety and Celtics will go on spurts with the 3. Who ends up scoring more at the end of the game might just be down to who makes more tough shots that they shouldn't make consistently than the other.

Both defenses are horrific to play against and are making life hell for each team on offense.

[Fencer reregistered]

https://www.celticsblog.com/2022/5/4/23056846/back-to-celtics-basketball-10-takeaways-from-boston-celtics-milwaukee-bucks

Smitty, as usual, has a detailed take. Highlights include:

-- Unlike most observers, he thinks the Cs already made the adjustments to handle Giannis-as-screener plays.
-- Funniest clip is the one where Tatum falls onto a photographer out of bounds, then relocates to the corner for a wide open 3.
-- Smitty emphasized how exhausted Giannis seemed at the end, with a corresponding reduction in defensive effort.
-- His numbers remind us that Horford has been highly effective at defending Giannis, while Grant Williams has been pretty decent.

[jfs1000d]

Boston still has a lot of room to improve. As far as I’ve seen it, they’ve played really well for two quarters out of eight. Some people making it seem like Boston played a flawless game last night but the second half was just a lot of playing with their food

It comes down to if you think Boston can continue to shoot this many 3s. They were 13 of 20 in first half, but regressed in second half as 7 of 23.

Now. Of those 43, I gotta believe 40 were Wide open.

Just a weird choice by Bucks to just not guard the 3at all.

I think Bucks are gonna be stubborn. Boston’s 3s are wide open. They are going to kill Milwaukee if bucks don’t try and guard the 3.

In a normal series, way too many 3s. But, these shots are wide open. Boston needs to make more midrange, which brown and Tatum can do at a high percentage unguarded. If they can hit that, and hit 3s at about 38%, I think they cruise.

Milwaukee seems to be willing to protect the paint at all costs.

And, I don’t think Milwaukee has enough firepower. With no Middleton, how are bucks going to score efficiently from perimeter?

They scored 54 points in the paint but managed only 86 points? Very inefficient offense game 2.

I would let Giannis get his, inefficiently, and the rest of the team just stand around and be guarded.

Key for Boston is turnovers and transition defense. Limit turnovers and transition opportunities because no one is stopping Giannis in open court.

We’ll see if Boston can continue to make it difficult for Giannis. He is going to get his 30. Just make him do it Inefficiently.

35 for Gianni’s. 22 for Holiday…who is the third scorer? Portis seems like anything more than 17 is a big game for him. Allen? Meh. Lopez? That is a lot to ask.

I truly think they don’t have enough offense. They are going to have to win a defensive battle played in the 90s.


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[jfs1000d]

I wonder how long Budenholzer is going to keep riding Lopez in the starting line-up when he clearly never should be in this series. I thought he learned his lesson last year, but some of these coaches refuse to see what's in front of them.

As a Celtics fan, please take Lopez out. Rim protection is a problem.


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[jfs1000d]

I think it's a little disingenuous to argue that Bud has done nothing to adjust to Boston's defense.

In Game 1, the offensive gameplan worked perfectly. They got open looks and won by double digits with Giannis having a poor shooting night and missing shots he normally makes.

In Game 2 they shot themselves in the foot early with dumb play from Giannis and Jrue. Bud has never been great at adjusting in game, but by the time it mattered yesterday the game was over.

All of that said, I'm not worried about our defense or Boston hitting 20 threes at a 47% clip again. If they sustain that, they're winning the title regardless. I am worried about the adjustment Bud makes between Game 2 and 3 offensively. That will be key.

Both defences have found success more than not, but too much emphasis is put on the results of 20 3s instead of how they did it. If the Celtics move the ball, cut, and keep it moving, they could find success on all 3 levels. The Bucks will probably look to slow down the Celtics and kill rhythm, which they have done most of the series. So to me, this series will be a defensive grind, and the team that dictates the pace will edge their opponent.

According to Statemuse the Bucks were top ten in pace this year while the Celtics were in the bottom ten. Interestingly, I think each team wants to go in the other direction in this series. As we saw last night, the Celtics want to get the ball up the floor, get into their actions, play read-and react and never let the Bucks defense settle in. The Bucks, rather, I think want to walk the ball up the floor, play through Giannis, and lean on their size and physicality.

It reminds me a bit of the 2016 Spurs-Thunder series. The Spurs had played really slow all year but wanted to speed things up because the Thunder were prone to breakdowns in coverage on their second, third, fourth rotations. The Thunder had played much faster all year and were the much more athletic team, but paradoxically were better served by playing slower, crashing the offensive boards and limiting the number of possessions of the game so the superior talent of KD and Russ would carry the day.

How was Boston bottom 10 in pace? They had no. 1 offense for the last 50 games?

Something doesn’t compute there. What determines pace?


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[jfs1000d]

I think it's a little disingenuous to argue that Bud has done nothing to adjust to Boston's defense.

In Game 1, the offensive gameplan worked perfectly. They got open looks and won by double digits with Giannis having a poor shooting night and missing shots he normally makes.

In Game 2 they shot themselves in the foot early with dumb play from Giannis and Jrue. Bud has never been great at adjusting in game, but by the time it mattered yesterday the game was over.

All of that said, I'm not worried about our defense or Boston hitting 20 threes at a 47% clip again. If they sustain that, they're winning the title regardless. I am worried about the adjustment Bud makes between Game 2 and 3 offensively. That will be key.

Both defences have found success more than not, but too much emphasis is put on the results of 20 3s instead of how they did it. If the Celtics move the ball, cut, and keep it moving, they could find success on all 3 levels. The Bucks will probably look to slow down the Celtics and kill rhythm, which they have done most of the series. So to me, this series will be a defensive grind, and the team that dictates the pace will edge their opponent.

Celtics averaged 18 3’s a game against the Bucks in 4 regular season game and hit at 41%. Throw out the first game which featured Schroder, Richardson, Langford and the team shooting 12/41 and we’re essentially averaging the same as last game.

If you’re giving up wide open 3s then the Celtics are going to shoot 40%-50% on those shots.

Yeah. If Bucks fans are hoping for Boston to cool off, ya gonna have to guard them them.


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[Kalela]

I wonder how long Budenholzer is going to keep riding Lopez in the starting line-up when he clearly never should be in this series. I thought he learned his lesson last year, but some of these coaches refuse to see what's in front of them.

Lopez is the reason the Celtics can't score in the paint. Celtic's players would love it if Lopez was benched in this series.

[Antinomy]

I wonder how long Budenholzer is going to keep riding Lopez in the starting line-up when he clearly never should be in this series. I thought he learned his lesson last year, but some of these coaches refuse to see what's in front of them.

Lopez is the reason the Celtics can't score in the paint. Celtic's players would love it if Lopez was benched in this series.

Exactly. What in the world are some people watching?

Lopez was in foul trouble last game — it’s pretty much the only reason they were able to score somewhat in the paint.

[Blaze4G]

What I am confused by is Bucks fans hated Coach Bud, calling for his head for years and because they won the chip last year he is suddenly a great coach.

He was always a great coach, actually a great coaching team considering he has dudes like Taylor Jenkins under him until recently.
We hated him because he was doing inexplicable things like refusing to play Giannis more than 30 minutes in playoffs series that we lost. Then he stopped doing inexplicable things and we loved him again, and if he loses this series we will probably hate him again. How do you think he's doing in this series? So far I can't say I'm loving it, way too many open threes and not enough Giannis P&R when the offense gets stuck.

Doesn't help that the Bucks share about as much info with the fans as the Sicilian mafia shares with the police, so we don't actually know what is going on anyway. Just going by gut feel.

Fair points. Imo it's too soon to judge how he is doing. Bucks won the first game so running back the same game plan for game 2 makes sense. Now for game 3 if he continues with allowing wide open 3s I would upset as a Bucks fan

[PhilBlackson]

If someone put a gun to my head & said who's winning the Finals...right now it looks like the C's to me.

[th87]

It's the Bucks offense I'm not really getting. Giannis isn't having much luck against Horford or Grant W and it seems like Basketball 101 to set picks that will get a smaller defender switched onto him. I'm assuming they'll do some of that in Game 3 but then again I was expecting it in Game 2 and it didn't happen.

Took them until the 2nd half to go to some of that. Classic Bud/Bucks. Even as a fan that is used to it, that 1st quarter offense was still perplexing/frustrating as hell to watch.

Complete brainlessness. Giannis as a screener is a Basketball 101 adjustment, evident to everyone within 5 minutes.

Not only did Bud go to it too late, costing the game, he also gave Udoka film to work with to counter in Game 3.

Just complete malpractice. Could cost a very winnable series.

[Pachinko_]

If someone put a gun to my head & said who's winning the Finals...right now it looks like the C's to me.

Suns for me but yeah in my mind it's close between Suns, Celtics, Bucks.
And Miami will not go down without a fight either