Celtics Good Sports, Spot Bucks a Game 1 Win (Milwaukee leads 1-0)

[Garbanzo]

Refs had nothing to do with that.

The only call of the entire game that genuinely bothered me was the missed goaltending. The rest was just inconsistent reffing, that wasn’t slanted in either teams favor.

The ref stuff just feels lazy to me.

You can't play like that and then blame the refs. They bullied us and shut us down.

Refs help decide maybe 1-2% of games at most IMO, and half are in your own team's favor.

All I know is that when I played and opponents were crying about "refs" (as opposed to a single call), I knew they were already dead. It's looking for a way out.

When I played an the opponent was crying/blaming the refs, they were right most of the time
Yes, mentally they checked out, but that does not contradict the fact that they were right with their claims.

Regarding this game.. No, the refs were not responsible for the loss.
They allowed both sided to play very aggressive.
To be frank, Bucks played on the verge of being violent/dirty. They guarded using their hands as much as their feet.
Our players didn't cross that line, and I don't want them too.

On basketball forums in Israel, I can tell you that many laughed about Giannis passing the ball to himself using the basket and dunking it.
He clearly traveled there, leaving his pivot leg.
Those are not celtics fans by the way. Far from it.

[flintsky21]

Nothing ever comes easy. The Bucks are a whole another beast than the Nets. They've got the best player in the world and they're the defending champs. They can also play tough D and their stars are more willing playmakers. And they're coming off a championship year where they came back from two 0-2 deficits so they're going to be much tougher mentally than the Nets.

The Celtics have been proclaiming themselves as the best team in the league and this is a tough gut check. But I believe this team has more character than previous ones so I have no doubt that they will adjust and give a better effort in game 2. Let's see if that will be enough.

[Marvel]

What a terrible trade for Derrick. Yuck.

[TheMartian]

Nothing ever comes easy. The Bucks are a whole another beast than the Nets. They've got the best player in the world and they're the defending champs. They can also play tough D and their stars are more willing playmakers. And they're coming off a championship year where they came back from two 0-2 deficits so they're going to be much tougher mentally than the Nets.

The Celtics have been proclaiming themselves as the best team in the league and this is a tough gut check. But I believe this team has more character than previous ones so I have no doubt that they will adjust and give a better effort in game 2. Let's see if that will be enough.

Curious on the bolded part. When did they do this? AFAIK, it was the talking heads in the media doing it but not the players themselves.

[soxfan2003]

I realize he struggled shooting vs the Nets but I don't get the White dislike based upon this game. Sure only 2 for 6 but 2 for 3 from 3 and 4 for 4 from the line and he got hacked a few times without it being called.

Unless the refs are calling it tight so size is less of a factor, I don't think this is the series for Payton Pritchard. Bucks are just a big team and since players like Williams/Brown/Tatum/Smart are relatively small when going up against Milwaukee, having more size in the backcourt helps lower the Bucks length advantage. It would be one thing if Pritchard was a speedy PG that gave the Bucks problem or was elite at breaking down the defense and not turning the ball over. Nesmith not really progressing from last year, hurts big time in this series since if he played decent, it would help out quite a bit.

Even though size matters in the NBA playoffs, a bunch of teams have won series with perimeter oriented attacks.

The Celtics lost this game I believe because of Brown, Tatum and Pritchard not playing well or shooting well. In the cases of Brown/Tatum, credit the Bucks defense but Pritchard just missed open shots for the most part. Refs didn't determine the outcome given 12 point difference but they did favor the Bucks with how they called it.

Given that Middleton is out, I thought the Celtics would win this series if they avoided injury but I thought it would be close. Smart hobbling around is not a good sign since Celtics need him at close to 100% since the team is not deep. Without Smart, I can't fathom the Celtics winning the series unless Giannis goes down. The Celtics need his ball handling and toughness.

[FlatearthZorro]

As I said in the series poll thread, it looks like we underestimated this Bucks Team and the Celtics did too. Budenholzer and the Bucks came prepared. Ime and the Celtics did not (on the offensive end at least). Game 2 is a must win.

The Bucks are a fantastic team, but they played their game. Defense was just as I've seen it for the past 3-4 years.
As for the C's, I thought that once they go inside you need to pass when you draw 3 people and make better decisions to not turn the ball over. I think Jaylen and Jayson need to throw some fakes and stuff. Both Giannis and Lopez go up to contest on the initial attempt. Also some inside the paint passing, alley oops to Bobby, Horfie, Theis. Make the wide open 3, etc. Some of these were practice 3s. Run out in the open on the break before their defense is set up.
The defense was good.

[FlatearthZorro]

I realize he struggled shooting vs the Nets but I don't get the White dislike based upon this game. Sure only 2 for 6 but 2 for 3 from 3 and 4 for 4 from the line and he got hacked a few times without it being called.

Unless the refs are calling it tight so size is less of a factor, I don't think this is the series for Payton Pritchard. Bucks are just a big team and since players like Williams/Brown/Tatum/Smart are relatively small when going up against Milwaukee, having more size in the backcourt helps lower the Bucks length advantage. It would be one thing if Pritchard was a speedy PG that gave the Bucks problem or was elite at breaking down the defense and not turning the ball over. Nesmith not really progressing from last year, hurts big time in this series since if he played decent, it would help out quite a bit.

Even though size matters in the NBA playoffs, a bunch of teams have won series with perimeter oriented attacks.

The Celtics lost this game I believe because of Brown, Tatum and Pritchard not playing well or shooting well. In the cases of Brown/Tatum, credit the Bucks defense but Pritchard just missed open shots for the most part. Refs didn't determine the outcome given 12 point difference but they did favor the Bucks with how they called it.

Given that Middleton is out, I thought the Celtics would win this series if they avoided injury but I thought it would be close. Smart hobbling around is not a good sign since Celtics need him at close to 100% since the team is not deep. Without Smart, I can't fathom the Celtics winning the series unless Giannis goes down. The Celtics need his ball handling and toughness.

He makes 17 mils. The expectations were that he can bring the defense and average 12 pts a game with like 4 assists, 4 boards while shooting decent % from the field.

[FlatearthZorro]

Celtics were taken out of their offense on nearly every trip up the floor.

They were only semi successful in the paint even when they did make it past the restricted area.

Our defense was OK, but there's no way we were prepared for the level of defense we faced.

Our players were also banged up and banged around in an intensely physical game.

I don't see us winning this series.

I'm gonna re-hash what I wrote 3 times. MIL has played this type of D for the past 3-4 years. They storm whoever makes it past the FT line and give up the wide open 3. They give up the most wide open 3s in the league for years now.

[ConstableGeneva]

Bucks had 28-8 advantage in fast break points and 27-6 advantage in points off turnovers. There's the game. Can't happen again. Transition D has to be better and can't just be careless with the ball.

Great game breakdown thread of Celtics bad offense / poor decision-making leading to easy offense for the Bucks.

Read on Twitter

We never really gave ourselves a chance.

[TheMartian]

As I said in the series poll thread, it looks like we underestimated this Bucks Team and the Celtics did too. Budenholzer and the Bucks came prepared. Ime and the Celtics did not (on the offensive end at least). Game 2 is a must win.

The Bucks are a fantastic team, but they played their game. Defense was just as I've seen it for the past 3-4 years.
As for the C's, I thought that once they go inside you need to pass when you draw 3 people and make better decisions to not turn the ball over. I think Jaylen and Jayson need to throw some fakes and stuff. Both Giannis and Lopez go up to contest on the initial attempt. Also some inside the paint passing, alley oops to Bobby, Horfie, Theis. Make the wide open 3, etc. Some of these were practice 3s. Run out in the open on the break before their defense is set up.
The defense was good.

Agreed. Need to be smarter on the offensive end. Coach Udoka was not able to make adjustments on the offensive sets in-game but hopefully he comes better prepared in Game 2.

[Dangit]

Bottom line ..
If Tatum is going to be doubled .... then Jaylen should have no issue taking over ... and it shouldn't just be a fourth quarter thing .
If he adjust and can make that happen... good
If he's unable to take that step like Tatum took the step we needed then it's time to seriously look at a better option.

[flintsky21]

Nothing ever comes easy. The Bucks are a whole another beast than the Nets. They've got the best player in the world and they're the defending champs. They can also play tough D and their stars are more willing playmakers. And they're coming off a championship year where they came back from two 0-2 deficits so they're going to be much tougher mentally than the Nets.

The Celtics have been proclaiming themselves as the best team in the league and this is a tough gut check. But I believe this team has more character than previous ones so I have no doubt that they will adjust and give a better effort in game 2. Let's see if that will be enough.

Curious on the bolded part. When did they do this? AFAIK, it was the talking heads in the media doing it but not the players themselves.

My bad. It was only Jaylen Brown. I thought Tatum said it too, but it turns out all he said was "they're the hardest playing team in the league."

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/are-celtics-best-team-nba-jaylen-brown-has-confident-take

[Ben-N1ce]

Brown and white were so bad. That stretch white got inserted they were up i think 8 and they went on a 10-0 Run and prpbsy like 15-2 run or something overall. He had multiple turnovers, bricked 2 shots 3 feet from the rim and gave up a back door layup on an inbound. Jaylen Pretty much was as bad or worse. At one point was 1-8 with 7 turnovers..

That being said the whole team really nothing good enough to win. Defense was pretty good I guess. Offense gave them no chance.

[Green89]

rob did a good job on Giannis too.

Read on Twitter

Rob needs to play more. 22 minutes isn't going to work. He averaged 30 this year and needs to be around that for us to be successful in this series. They can't score on him!

Read on Twitter

He didn't look right after getting kicked in the nuts.

And how do you not argue that play for a review? Giannis leg came way up in a non basketball play. Have to be smarter there, guys like Lowry and Nick Nurse would have been in the ref's faces, twirling their finger and demanding a replay for a hostile act (and would have gotten one, too).

[CoP]

We might want to play some 5 out just to keep Lopez from camping in the paint. That may provide an opportunity to get him in foul trouble too. He only had one all game. They need to find a way to force him into space.

Also need to get some PnR going with whomever Lopez is guarding to get some open midrange looks, and hitting them. Tatum and Brown played poorly. I thought they were too concerned with doing drive and kicks, especially Tatum, and that led to some sloppy turnovers.

It wasn't a deciding factor, but the officials did allow the Bucks to play more physically. They should have been called for a lot more blocking fouls in defensive transition, it was clearly their strategy to do this and force the refs to blow the whistle in order to slow our transition game and give their bigs enough time to get back and camp in the paint. It was also just ridiculous that White was called for a loose ball foul when Lopez, who is much taller, literally had his arm wrapped up. Scott Foster is an abomination and I pray he doesn't ref another of the Celtics games this series. That said, there were much bigger problems than that.

[Feed Your Head]

The tracking number matches the eye test, Tatum had 16 potential assists (2 hockey assists as well, with only 3 turnovers), and we only capitalized on 6 of them. The last two games he has had 34 potential ones, and 11 actual. Those are the shots we are going to need to hit, if we want to win this series. Now of course Tatum was like 2-100 in the paint, and that’s where he needs to figure it out against them. He needs to play tougher at the rim, but also get more creative with his finishing, since the Bucks are massive.

Smart had 14 potential assists himself, and only 6 actual. We can’t let the Bucks completely dictate our style offensively, but we have to make them pay for leaving guys open from outside.

[Jammer]

Normally a shorter, more skilled player can beat a taller, less skilled player, particularly if there is a quickness advantage. The problem the Celts have with a healthy Milwaukee, even without Middleton, is the size they give up up front. If you factor in reach, it can be even more.

True Heights without shoes:

Lopez 6' 11.25" .......... Rob Williams and Daniel Theis 6' 8.25" .... Minus 3 inches
Giannis 6' 9.5" ............ Al Horford 6' 8" ............. Minus 1.5 inches (Used Giannis' measured height, not his stated height)
Bobby Portis 6' 9.5" .... Grant Williams 6' 5.75" ..... minus 3.75"

The Celts have the edge at the primary wings:
Connaughton 6' 4.5" versus Tatum around 6' 7" (Tatum has a 2.5" advantage and a 2.75" inch advantage over 6' 4.25" Jrue Holiday)
Grayson Allen 6' 3" versus Brown 6' 5.25" (Celts plus 2.25")

Jrue Holiday 6' 4.25" versus Marcus Smart 6' 2" (minus 2.25 inches)
Wes Matthews 6' 1" vs Derrick White 6' 3.5" (+2.5") but White loses that advantage against Connaughton or Grayson Allen
Jevon Carter 6' 0.25" vs Payton Pritchard 6' 1" (+0.75")

[CelticsPride18]

Bucks had 28-8 advantage in fast break points and 27-6 advantage in points off turnovers. There's the game. Can't happen again. Transition D has to be better and can't just be careless with the ball.

Great game breakdown thread of Celtics bad offense / poor decision-making leading to easy offense for the Bucks.

Read on Twitter

We never really gave ourselves a chance.

Ironically Boston offense was the Bucks best offense too.

[Bostondave]

Brown over penetrated on offense because he was scared to do what he's gotten good at in attacking the rim. Tatum too. I saw them pass out of the paint numerous times. That's troubling in multiple respects. You challenge their bigs to either block the shot or get fouled. But the point is you don't be scared. Show some heart and some fire and take it to them hard and strong.

[soxfan2003]

Normally a shorter, more skilled player can beat a taller, less skilled player, particularly if there is a quickness advantage. The problem the Celts have with a healthy Milwaukee, even without Middleton, is the size they give up up front. If you factor in reach, it can be even more.

True Heights without shoes:

Lopez 6' 11.25" .......... Rob Williams and Daniel Theis 6' 8.25" .... Minus 3 inches
Giannis 6' 11" ............ Al Horford 6' 8" ............. Minus 3 inches
Bobby Portis 6' 9.5" .... Grant Williams 6' 5.75" is minus 3.75"

The Celts have the edge at the primary wings:
Connaughton 6' 4.5" versus Tatum around 6' 7" (Tatum has a 2.5" advantage and a 2.75" inch advantage over 6' 4.25" Jrue Holiday)
Grayson Allen 6' 3" versus Brown 6' 5.25" (Celts plus 2.25")

Jrue Holiday 6' 4.25" versus Marcus Smart 6' 2" (minus 2.25 inches)
Wes Matthews 6' 1" vs Derrick White 6' 3.5" (+2.5") but White loses that advantage against Connaughton or Grayson Allen
Jevon Carter 6' 0.25" vs Payton Pritchard 6' 1" (+0.75")

It was just one game but Celtics outscored Bucks by 10 when Lopez was in the game but when Bucks bench players were in the game probably with Giannis, Celtics got killed.

If Nesmith was ready to play in place of Pritchard by your own numbers, Bucks overall height advantage is much more manageable. Pritchqrd only played 11 minutes and Bucks were plus 17 in the minutes he played. Even if Pritchard hit 4-8 from 3 instead of 2-8, Bucks would have still had a big advantage with him on the court. The problem is off of Celtics turnovers and other plays, Pritchard lack of length hurts when he tries to close out on their shooters. And he is less likely to get those scramble loose balls.

There were several key play's on defense where Pritchard's lack of size/reach hurt. If he was expected to shoot like Seth Curry from 3, I can see trying to live with his undersized defense off the bench to open up the court for other players but I really think Udoka needs him on a short leash in this series. Against most other playoff teams, I think you can play him his normal minutes but Milwaukee appears to be a bad matchup. For sure I think Pritchard can hit his share of open 3's but if he is giving up too many points on defense/transition, it really is a negative.