Post Game - Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks - Wednesday, March 20 (W)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585626

Celtics-Bucks takeaways: Pritchard shines, C's survive scary fourth quarter

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-bucks-takeaways-pritchard-shines-023553655.html

Justin Leger
Wed, Mar 20, 2024, 10:40 PM EDT·4 min read




Celtics-Bucks takeaways: Pritchard shines, C's survive scary fourth quarter originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

Payton Pritchard brings the energy
Jayson Tatum starts and finishes strong
Another scary fourth quarter vs. MIL

Wednesday night at TD Garden, the Boston Celtics held off a late run by the Giannis Anteteokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks for their seventh straight victory.

Anteteokounmpo sat out the potential postseason preview due to a hamstring injury. Boston also was short-handed without Jrue Holiday (shoulder) and Sam Hauser (ankle).

The Celtics led virtually the entire game but watched their 21-point lead shrink to two in a sluggish fourth quarter. It was an ugly finish to an otherwise strong performance as they took down their Eastern Conference rival for the second time this season, 122-119.

This marked Boston's 27th consecutive regular-season win at the Garden against East teams, dating back to March 24 of last year. It has a 10-0 record at home since Feb. 4.

Jayson Tatum scored a team-high 31 points for the C's, including 23 in the first half. Derrick White and Jaylen Brown added 23 and 21, respectively.

Damian Lillard had a game-high 32 points while Bobby Portis contributed 24 off the bench for the Bucks. Khris Middleton added 22.

The Celtics (55-14) will begin a six-game road trip Friday night against the Detroit Pistons (12-56). First, here are three takeaways from Wednesday's matchup.

Payton Pritchard brings the energy

You won't like Payton Pritchard when he's angry. The Bucks learned that lesson the hard way on Wednesday night.

Milwaukee guard Patrick Beverley taunted Pritchard with a "too small" gesture early in the game. The backup Celtics guard let his play do the talking as he scored or assisted on 15 straight Boston points following Beverley's trash-talk.

Pritchard scored 13 points in the first half, but winning an offensive rebound over Brook Lopez and drawing a foul on the Bucks big man may have been his most memorable highlight of the night:



You can watch all of Pritchard's first-half buckets below:

Pritchard's energy remained a factor in the second half. He re-entered the game with just under five minutes left in the third quarter and immediately drained a 3-pointer. Later, he made another hustle play, picking off an entry pass while drawing a foul on Bobby Portis.



Pritchard ended up with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting (5-8 3-PT), six rebounds, and three assists in 31 minutes off the bench. After racking up 14 points and 13 assists in 35 minutes vs. Washington, then 23 points and seven assists vs. Detroit, this was another example of the Oregon product taking advantage of his increased opportunity.

Jayson Tatum starts and finishes strong

Another night, another fast start for Tatum.

The Celtics superstar tallied 10 first-quarter points -- all in the first five minutes -- after notching 15 vs. Utah, 14 vs. Phoenix, and 18 vs. Washington. He stayed hot in the second frame, finishing the half with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting (4-5 3-PT).

In case it wasn't already clear that he was feeling it, Tatum blew his signature "kiss of death" not even halfway into the second quarter:



Tatum was uncharacteristically quiet throughout the third quarter and the start of the fourth. His scoring drought lasted until the game was on the line.

With the rest of the team struggling to make buckets, the five-time All-Star scored eight points in the final two minutes to lift Boston to victory.



Tatum finished with 31 points (9-19 FG, 4-7 3-PT), eight rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block. The 26-year-old has regained his MVP form as of late with at least 30 points scored in three of his last four games.

Another scary fourth quarter vs. MIL

While the final score doesn't show it, the Celtics were in control for most of this game. But just like their first matchup against Milwaukee back in November, it all started to unravel in the fourth quarter.

In that November meeting, the C's held a 17-point lead with 5:40 remaining and won by three. Wednesday's matchup was eerily similar. Boston led by 21 early in the fourth quarter, watched Milwaukee cut the deficit to two, and again won by only three.

The Celtics went four minutes in the final frame without a bucket. Fortunately, they managed to avoid a late-game collapse similar to their March 5 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, when they were outscored 34-17 in the fourth in a one-point loss.

Here's what I saw:

1.  IMHBAO, Pritchard has officially earned the title Eddie House, Jr.  Any objections?  OK.  The amendment passes unanimously.  Let's challenge him and see if he can make it Sr through the playoffs.  That's all the vertically challenged need is someone to motivate them that they are too short...just ask Pat Bev. I LOVE the fact that Pritch had 6 rebounds and 2 assists. He is like the Incredible Hulk as the article was referring with the "angry" reference. Bev may be an idiot.

2.  JT big when it counted.  That's what you want your superstars to do.  And he did it.  Unfortunately, the media this morning will jump all over yet another big lead "nearly" blown again bs.  Here it comes.  Get your umbrellas!  I told you I wanted a blowout!  I'm not righteous enough.  The prayers of the righteous person are powerful and effective.  
   
3.  We're going to lose leads, EVERY team does.  It's how you react.  JT stepped up when all else around him was crumbling.  W is a W.  We got this.  

4.  KP couldn't throw it in the ocean even though he got 17 quiet points.  Something wrong or am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?  Remember, come playoff time, believe it or not, he's our weakest link.  10 games total with the Wizards.  He's going to have to play a lot better than he did last night. He makes maybe 3 of those bricks he threw up like he normally does and this game is way over.  For whatever reason(s), that line up for us did not work last night.  Fortunately, it did not cost us.  Coach is a mastermind.    
 
5.  Can someone help me with the Lopez strategy and why it worked?  Announcers were saying Doc should take him out of the game altogether if we play them.  What are we doing that jacks Lopez up?  Thanks!  I'll rewatch the game as well.  My wife HATES Lopez.    

6.  Balanced scoring vs. Bucks 3 and done.  Look at the box scores.  I don't know if I'd say we "contained" Lillard at 32 points, but JB took the challenge and had him befuddled in the 1st half.  But one half does not a game make.  JB should have blocked that last shot of Lillard's.  That was a statement by Lillard.  Didn't need it but shot it anyway.  3 of their guys in double figures and that's it.  I can hear Bill Russell say score all points, grab all the rebounds you want, Wilt, we'll take the title.  Even though the Bucks didn't have Giannis, we didn't have Doogie or Jrue.  I'll concede that at a BAM, Giannis = Doogie + Jrue.  I can argue pretty easily that Doogie + Jrue > Giannis.    

7.  Got to figure out our 4th quarters vs. Bucks.  We've just about figured everything else out vs. every other team.  We're not losing to Doc and the Bucks in a 7-game series.  Bucks are a good team but not great.  We're great.  We'll be at the ECF.  Very good chance the Bucks may not be.

OK, that's enough rambling.  JT said it best.  Focus is now on DET this Friday.  

db

P.S.  I have a new mantra...When I see Coach Joe panicking, then I'll panic.  If Joe is panicking, the team will clearly be panicking.  I do not see nor have I seen the team have that happen to date this entire season.

Jay King @ByJayKing
about 30 minutes ago
Joe Mazzulla: “It was good to be in one of those games. Hadn’t been in one in a while there.”

I disagree.  Is it good to occasionally be in a nailbiter all the way through, a boxing match in a phone booth (for those of us who are old enough to remember phone booths)?  Sure, they build character and they teach the value of sustained focus, but almost losing a 21 point lead with only 11:29 left?  No, that's not good.  Having the 21-point lead cut to single digits and then stopping the bleeding?  Ok.  Having it cut to two before you do it?  No.

Just to prove that I'm not The Grinch who's trying to steal Christmas (although, if you're going to steal a holiday, what better one to choose than the one with the most swag?) we probably would have lost this game last year.  That's the good news, we're not blowing big leads to teams we should be beating handily.  That's something but, in my opinion, not much because in the playoffs there are fewer teams that you should be beating handily so you're not getting those gimmes.  Furthermore, you go into a swan dive like this against Denver or OKC or Milwaukee with Giannis and maybe the guy doesn't get the girl and they live happily ever after.  You didn't kill them until they're dead, so you gotta keep your foot on their throat until they stop moving.  Figuratively speaking, of course.

One of the things I look for is which players up their games in big games and who shrink under the klieg lights of examination.  

I'm going to go on for a while now about Payton Pritchard, if that's ok.  

The smallest guy on either roster sure rose up, didn't he?  Payton was unreal last night, Holy Cow(ens)!  Hmm, maybe Rich is right, maybe "Pritch is a god".  19 points on 7-11, 5-8 from 3, 6 rebounds by the 6'1" Mighty Mouse, 3 assists and only 1 turnover.  2 of his rebounds were offensive and one of them insane.  He crashed the boards from beyond the arc and he wrestled 7'0, 280# Brook Lopez for it and just would not let go.  He was everywhere on offense and defense.  He was posting players up at the rim.  He took very athletic 6'5" Connaughton baseline to the rim, muscled him off his back and laid it in.  Patrick Beverly, who is the #2 most arrogant f**k in the NBA behind Dillon Brooks, scored on Kornet and gave him the "too small" sign.  That was a mistake because Payton got pissed.  He just flat-out outworked everybody on the floor.  He just turned 26 two months ago, is under long-term contract until 2027-2028 at what is looking like a great price ($7.5M/year), and is only going to get better.

Jay King @ByJayKing
about 11 minutes ago
Payton Pritchard did not like Patrick Beverley’s too small gesture to Luke Kornet: “I feel like he was just trying to clown one of our teammates. So I definitely took it a little personal.”

John Karalis @John_Karalis
3 minutes ago
DWhite on Pritchard: “Payton has the heart of a lion. He don’t back down from anybody. He looks forward to matchups like this. ... he’s the ultimate competitor. It was big time what he did for us in the first half ... every time he’s in there he helps us win games.”

DBrown says Pritchard is "Eddie House, Jr".  I honestly cannot remember Eddie playing defense like Pritchard is, rebounding like Pritchard is or playing bullyball like Pritchard is.  For the record, House was a 39% career 3pt shooter, 46.8% in the playoffs.  Pritchard is a career 39.5% 3pt shooter but only a 33.7% in the playoffs.  Time to play up to your regular season average, Payton.

I just watched this highlight film.  Like I said, Pritch was just unreal.




Ok, now moving on...

JT had a good game right from the start.  After a multi-week slump he has been playing very well.  Let's finish our Magic Numbers and give him a game or two off because his freshness will be needed in the playoffs.  Remember two years ago when he was playing heavy playoff minutes and he started to wear down in the Finals vs GSW?  We don't want that again, but last night he showed an ability to play at a playoff level against a playoff contender.

Watching Al Horford go almost out to the logo to guard Dame made me smile.  Maybe not the smartest thing, but you had to love his ambition and effort.  What other big in the league would have done that?

Gotta give Joe a little credit here.  He called some timely timeouts when our lead dropped down to 12.  Last year he wouldn't have called timeout, the lead would have continued to evaporate because the players weren't given direction nor the 75-seconds to stop and settle their heads down, and maybe we'd lose the game or pull it out but it was an adventure.  Last night Joe stopped the action and took control on the sidelines.  Good job, Coach.

Not a huge night offensively for Jaylen, but he guarded Dame for a lot of it.  He wanted the assignment and played hard defense.  When Dame is the #1 scoring option, when the ball is in his hands (as opposed to Giannis' hands) he is Hall of Fame-level tough to guard.

Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
about 1 hour ago
Jaylen Brown defended Damian Lillard for nearly half of his offensive floor time on Wednesday. Per NBA tracking: 34 possessions 7 PTS 2-4 FG 1 TO 0 shooting fouls All other defenders: 41.6 possessions 30 PTS 11-20 FG 4 TO Derrick White spent 12.7 possessions. 0 PTS, 2 TO.

Yeah, but Dame still had a 7-11, 5-7 from 3, 19 point 2nd half.


Portis is a problem.  He always plays well against us and we just don't seem to be able to keep him off the boards.  24 points and 15 rebounds, 5 offensive, in 33 minutes.  Portis had 2 points at halftime, 1-4, 5 rebounds.  He had 23 points on 10-16, 2-3 from 3, 10 rebounds in the 2nd half.  I would have thought that would have been a good defensive assignment for Oshae but...

Svi with 5 minutes, Oshae with zero (despite Bobby Portis doing a number on us).  Would love to hear Joe's explanation for this recent faith in Svi.  I understand playing him vs Detroit, but Milwaukee?

On the other side of the spectrum I thought that Z was underperforming.  Sure, Lopez is a very good defender, but he's 10 days short of 36 years old.  He had 3 rebounds in 28 minutes.  Unlike Cowens who thinks that bigs always have to rebound even if they're defending at the perimeter, I realize that in today's NBA bigs have to leave the paint to defend the arc and that takes them out of good rebounding position.  HOWEVER, that wasn't the case last night.  We were just getting killed by Bobby freaking Portis.  I don't care that Z's 3 boards is more than Lopez's 2, we need more boards from Kristaps.  I mean, for Pete's Sake, Dame had 4 boards and Payton had 6.  The fact that Payton had as many offensive rebounds as Brook Lopez had total doesn't get Z off the hook for not playing big, and he didn't last night IMHBNHO.

A W is a W is a...on to an away/away b2b with Detroit and Chicago.  We have 6 home games and 7 road games left and we are going on a 10-day, 6 game road trip, leaving us with 6 home games and 1 road game to finish off the regular season after this trip.  Detroit/Chicago, two in Atlanta, NOP and finally Charlotte.  The only team that has a shot at winning, unless we let down, is NOP.  5-1 is what we should expect from this trip, no less if not more.  We return home for our game vs OKC.  IF we go 5-1 on this trip our MN vs OKC will be 3 (assuming they win 6 games straight).  Going 6-0 on this trip, coupled with beating them in Boston, would eliminate them and clinch #1 seed throughout the playoffs with 11 days left in the season.  The Thunder play the Bucks in Milwaukee this Sunday.  A Bucks win would be greatly appreciated.  They also play the Bucks again, in OKC, next-to-last game of the season.


Bob


.

There's no shame in asking for help!! MIL may be a little reticent with the bad taste we've left in their proverbial mouths. But, hey, the answer is always "NO" if you don't ask!! We've already beat them in our 10-game H2H set on my other thread.

db

Loved our intensity throughout the game, but did not enjoy the fourth quarter. We just missed shots in the fourth quarter and they got hot. Is Bobby Portis really that good? He got hot and scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. Dame hit some tough ones. The thing I liked is we didn't panic. We still generated good shots and JT really took control the last couple minutes. I don't think you can take much from this game. The bucks were without Giannis and we didn't have Jrue and Sam.

I loved the way JB got into Dame. I thought JB was fantastic (save for bricking two FTs late). He stepped up, and you could see it in Dame's eyes he didn't like being guarded so aggressively. To his credit he still got his points, but I can see the strategy for the playoffs. We are going to send JB, Jrue, D White and even JT at him. He's going to have to work every possession. I think we will wear him down.

I think this game was good for us. It showed we need to work on things, and if you listened to JT after the game we will work on getting better. If we had blown them away, we might have got a little complacent.

No good losses and never a bad win.

Hats off to PP.   He was the main reason why the Celtics built the big lead.  He is our ultimate pace setter.

This game almost fell into the L column.  That did not happen because this version of the Celtics can execute down the stretch at both ends of the court.  There were a lot of guys that contributed throughout the game.  

The Celtics did struggle to hold on to their big lead.  That is the topic being discussed.

CJ told us why.   The Bucks went into a zone defense and the Celtics were not prepared to counter it.

Our offense really sputtered as the Celts searched for scoring opportunities.  Their rhythm was throw off as a result.

The issue of beating zones is still an issue and must be addressed before this team hits the playoff round.

You can be certain that NBA teams will go over this game and see how discombobulated the Celtics became once they were forced to play offense against the Bucks zone.  The Celtics pulled this one off because we were able to go ISO and get to the rim picking up fouls and scoring (JT beautiful drive and left hand shot) Do that against a team like Miami and you will not get to the rim before they slap the ball away.

I see no other issues of significance about this team that would give me pause except for our inexplicable tendency to crap out against zone coverages.

CJ has more than enough time to drill down on this deficiency and get his team prepared for what could be a plethora of zone defenses in the playoffs.

Bob thanks for the breakdown of Jaylens actual real defensive performance on Dame. My eye test told me he was playing excellent shutdown defense, credit to Dame for still rising to the occasion enough to put up 32 points against our defense. Not easy.

One of the highlights was seeing Pritch beat B Lopez to a key offensive board, kid is fearless and relentless. On his drives he can use his hips, elbow and shoulder enough to knock his defender off the slightest or more to get his shot/lay up off. That is what Jaylen and Lebron do naturally, except those guys can knock down players like bowling pins. Zion also does this, guys like Obi Toppin and Mikal Bridges while able to jump out of the gym, just don’t have the strength/technique to finish in traffic like them. Pritch does.

Smart strategy resting Giannis, a rested Giannis will be a beast in the playoffs, if things fall into place with Middleton, Dame and Portis and Lopez they could be a tough out. This easily could be the team we face in the ECF. Neither J had their A+ offensive game going, though Tatum did in the 1st half. Glad in crunch time he finally listened to me, driving strong, instead of those fade aways with a defender on his shooting hand lol.

A couple of thoughts, not worth much I am sure. Was the game plan to just let Bobby Portis get whatever shots he wanted whenever he wanted them? He outrebounded the Celtics, over 16 rebounds. Kind of embarrassing. When is Jaylen Brown going to take free throw shooting lessons? This could be a major issue in the playoffs. We have a guy who drives to the basket constantly, is this going to turn into a hack a jaylen scheme by teams???I cannot believe, with all the improvements he has made to his game, this facet of his game is so terrible. He should be in the gym with Ray Allen!!!!!!!!!! It was disappointing to watch them squander that lead again, they were playing so well, then it became me ball time. But, as Eddie said at the end of the game, "a win is a win is a win" They almost looked bored out there against a team that will be fighting to knock them off

Thanks for bringing up the zone, dboss. I thought we had solved this as well as teams have come at us with it all season but they are only in it for a couple of plays as 2-3 3's fall in or a bunch of And 1's and the defense has to go man-to-man. Zones are extended and kill us when you have KP building a shopping mall and Doogie is out. I said this above but for whatever reason(s) this line up did not work against MIL. Good to know.

CJ has some potential gimmes on the road here where he can hopefully get some practices in and chill/kill the zone. Can't have the falling apart like we did in G7 ECF vs. MIA.

Dang it! I thought we had fixed this!!

db

RosalieTCeltics wrote:A couple of thoughts, not worth much I am sure.  Was the game plan to just let Bobby Portis get whatever shots he wanted whenever he wanted them?  He outrebounded the Celtics, over 16 rebounds.  Kind of embarrassing.  When is Jaylen Brown going to take free throw shooting lessons?  This could be a major issue in the playoffs. We have a guy who drives to the basket constantly, is this going to turn into a hack a jaylen scheme by teams???I cannot believe, with all the improvements he has made to his game, this facet of his game is so terrible. He should be in the gym with Ray Allen!!!!!!!!!!   It was disappointing to watch them squander that lead again, they were playing so well, then it became me ball time.  But, as Eddie said at the end of the game, "a win is a win is a win"  They almost looked bored out there against a team that will be fighting to knock them off

Rosalie

Ray Ray ain't walking through the door to help anything or anyone Celtics related.

JB's free throw shooting has not been good all year long.  It is rather perplexing given his shooting during the past 3 years

2021  76%
2022  75.8
2023  76.5

This year he has dropped to a very pedestrian 70.5%.   I have been watching his free throw shooting very closely this year.  I have not commented on what I am seeing. I will now since you brought it up.   He seems to be missing the first attempt and it appears he is short on those. (front rimming).  There is no consistency with his mechanics which are a bit herky-jerky at times.    I think he tends to shoot a flat ball  which has less margin for error.  Last night he knocked down 2 freebies with the game on the line.  The thing is that when I see him step to the line I never feel like he is going to make them.

We do not know what is going on behind the scenes.  I would hope that they have identified the flawed mechanics associated with his shot and have discussed it with him and he is putting forth an effort to improve.  Personally, I think that he should abandon the way he shoots them and start from scratch.  That is something  to be done in the off season where thousands of reps can be completed.  One thing looks clear.  Our top free throw shooters put more air under the ball.

Porkchop 'bug eyed' Portis has averaged 14.5 PPG against Boston in 11 games played.  We do not have Multiple defensive matchups for him.  He's 6' 10" and 250 lbs. Tatum is really the only guy with comparable height, length and quickness to match up with him.  He is not a guy that will be taking 20 FGA per game like last night. His 15 rebounds was surprising.

Last night our centers did not rebound the ball very well at all.

KP 3, AH 4,  LK  0, Tillman 3  (10 rebounds total for the 4 of them)  JT and  JB each had 8 rebounds, PP had 6 and D White had 5.  I know one thing, if our centers did their job on the glass, Portis would not have recorded 5 OR and 10 DR.

I am not so sure we were unprepared for the zone, as much as just missing some good looks. I can’t recall every possession, but I do recall KP had a wide open corner three and I think D White also had a good look. Sometimes the shots don’t fall, and then you factor in Portis going nuclear and things got tight.

However, I do agree Joe has to have the team work on attacking zone defenses. We have the luxury of time now. I think we will get better and will efficiently attack zones in the playoffs,

dbrown4 wrote:Thanks for bringing up the zone, dboss.  I thought we had solved this as well as teams have come at us with it all season but they are only in it for a couple of plays as 2-3 3's fall in or a bunch of And 1's and the defense has to go man-to-man.  Zones are extended and kill us when you have KP building a shopping mall and Doogie is out.  I said this above but for whatever reason(s) this line up did not work against MIL.  Good to know.  

CJ has some potential gimmes on the road here where he can hopefully get some practices in and chill/kill the zone.  Can't have the falling apart like we did in G7 ECF vs. MIA.  

Dang it!  I thought we had fixed this!!  

db  

Well db. coach Joe talked about how the offense got stagnant when the Bucks started playing zone. I agree that they should be able to address the issue. There is no NBA team that can play man on man defense and stop the Celtics from scoring. Last year in the playoffs, the Hawks Sixers and heat played a lot of zones against us

The Celtics got the zone killer in KP. The Celtics need to 1st recognize the zone (which can morph into man or vesa versa in the same possession) then they need to adjust their spacing and KP needs to go set up in the post area out to the foul line. KP needs to understand that if his teammates get him the ball in the post he needs to turn and shoot and not reinvent the wheel. He is going to have a mismatch advantage most of the time. And he should be able to make diagonal passes to open guys once he faces up. The main thing is that he needs to make quicker decisions. One play stands out in particular last night. KP got the ball in the post and instead of going right up, he put the ball on the floor for a dribble going right and was contested so then he decided to pass the ball out to the left sidelines and it went out of bounds. He needs to just shoot the jumper over all the dwarfs. The entire team needs to stay connected and make the right play to get us a good shot.

If the Celtics cannot win because of their inability to play against zones defense, I will be ripping mad.

I used Ray’s name, tongue in cheek, heck we have Sam Cassell sitting on the bench and Eddie House up in the announcing booth. Two awesome shooters. Sometimes when I watch JB shoot those free throws, it appears the focus is not there. As Red would yell at guys, bend your damn knees!!!! It has been an ongoing problem with him for a few years, you would think he would concentrate on that part of his game, especially where he prides himself on being a great finisher on the floor. What good does it do to have a guy you cannot rely on to finish those three point plays when he drives and gets fouled. It just bugs me terribly i have visions of Ben Simmons dancing in my head!!!!!!!

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I used Ray’s name, tongue in cheek, heck we have Sam Cassell sitting on the bench and Eddie House up in the announcing booth. Two awesome shooters.  Sometimes when I watch JB shoot those free throws, it appears the focus is not there.  As Red would yell at guys, bend your damn knees!!!!  It has been an ongoing problem with him for a few years, you would think he would concentrate on that part of his game, especially where he prides himself on being a great finisher on the floor. What good does it do to have a guy you cannot rely on to finish those three point plays when he drives and gets fouled.  It just bugs me terribly i have visions of Ben Simmons dancing in my head!!!!!!!

Well the issue is more prominent this year.  The 3 prior seasons were not bad.    Ben is on another level of bad.

I would rather have JB study free throw shooting with Rick Barry as his coach. Sure Jaylen would be too proud to shoot underhand, but he would hit 95% from the charity stripe thereafter.

dboss,

You won't be the only one busting through walls! Yep. KP was brought on just for that purpose...Zone Killer. But if Pritch, Doogie and KP are all healthy, the zones put on us in the playoffs will look just like they have in the regular season...1-2 possessions and you're down 6 points more. All three don't have to be on the court at the same time, but any 2 should do the trick. You can't be in a zone and not have at least one of our guys wide open with unencumbered target practice at the firing range! Oh yeah, can't forget DW, JB and JT for the emergency cord if all else fails. Proceed at your own risk.

db

Celtics17 wrote:I am not so sure we were unprepared for the zone, as much as just missing some good looks. I can’t recall every possession, but I do recall KP had a wide open corner three and I think D White also had a good look. Sometimes the shots don’t fall, and then you factor in Portis going nuclear and things got tight.

However, I do agree Joe has to have the team work on attacking zone defenses. We have the luxury of time now. I think we will get better and will efficiently attack zones in the playoffs,

Good point.

We all know the age old answer to the question ‘how do you beat a zone?’

You shoot over it.

Shots were not dropping.

Whether a team is playing man to man or in a zone, the key to running an efficient offense begins with paint touches.  The reason why a team like the Heat have stymied our offense is because they know how to limit those paint touches.  Their zone defenses are very sophisticated.  Sometimes we have even seen them invert their zones and have a big playing up top (Bam)  They are a very handsy team that overplays passing lanes.  As a result trying to dribble through the zone opens the door for more turnovers.

Enter Kristaps, a freakishly long center with good hands and scoring and passings skills in the paint.  His presence allows the Celtics to (1) collapse the zone, (2) score in the paint or (3) open up perimeter shooters.  Ultimately a team has to be able to shoot over the zone but the process of making that happen begins with paint touches otherwise you would simply have a 5 out offense with the ball moving around in a semi-circle.  

Let's not pretend that the Celtics have mastered playing against zone defense.  In CJ's post game presser he specifically talked about how the Bucks zone stagnated the offense.  

Basically you have to be able to collapse the zone before you can beat it.

dboss,

Please explain in more detail what you mean by collapsing the zone. Does that mean having a bomber like KP who pulls a defender out of his "zone" to more man-to-man? Or does it mean driving down the lane and again pulling defenders out of their "zone" like a JT or JB for the And 1?

KP is good for scoring in the paint with the mismatch and barring his recent Bucks performance, smoking it from 3. JT can hit the three but also drive for the And 1. It should be easier for us to beat the zone by working the ball around the outside of the zone, keeping it moving so the zone becomes overloaded and can't catch up with the passing vs. M2M. Since all our guys can hit the 3-ball, getting the ball to the hot shooter, (recently this has been Pritch and Doogie), seems like the best approach.

Again, I thought Boston had figured this out and for the most part they have. Make your shots and the zone goes down almost instantly.

db

dboss wrote:Whether a team is playing man to man or in a zone, the key to running an efficient offense begins with paint touches.  The reason why a team like the Heat have stymied our offense is because they know how to limit those paint touches.  Their zone defenses are very sophisticated.  Sometimes we have even seen them invert their zones and have a big playing up top (Bam)  They are a very handsy team that overplays passing lanes.  As a result trying to dribble through the zone opens the door for more turnovers.

Enter Kristaps, a freakishly long center with good hands and scoring and passings skills in the paint.  His presence allows the Celtics to (1) collapse the zone, (2) score in the paint or (3) open up perimeter shooters.  Ultimately a team has to be able to shoot over the zone but the process of making that happen begins with paint touches otherwise you would simply have a 5 out offense with the ball moving around in a semi-circle.  

Let's not pretend that the Celtics have mastered playing against zone defense.  In CJ's post game presser he specifically talked about how the Bucks zone stagnated the offense.  

Basically you have to be able to collapse the zone before you can beat it.

+1 Dboss

I’m cautiously optimistic, CJ is working on it and we will attack zones efficiently in the playoffs.