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BOSTON – Brad Stevens thought that the Boston Celtics’ offense tried to hit too many home runs Sunday afternoon during Game 1 of their first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. In other words, the team took a lot of risks during the series-opener, resulting in 15 turnovers while nearly costing them a win.
So, Tuesday night, the C’s made it a point to simplify things on the offensive end during Game 2 at TD Garden, and it paid off incredibly. Boston displayed phenomenal ball security, committing just five individual turnovers, while coasting to a 120-106 win and a 2-0 series lead over the Bucks.
“We talked about hitting singles a little bit better than we did the other day,” Stevens said, looking back on Sunday’s 113-107, overtime win. “I thought (Sunday) we tried to attack their set defense and their length without the ball getting to the other side of the court, and it’s really hard to do that. It’s really hard to get into the paint when they’re set like that. So (tonight) we tried to get it to the other side of the court simply. And then once we did, I thought we did a good job of attacking. A lot of guys did a lot of good things. Everybody was very secure with the ball today.”
Terry Rozier in particular was incredibly secure with the rock. Boston’s starting point guard did not commit a single turnover, marking the second straight game he has achieved that feat, despite the fact that he is leading the NBA in postseason touches per game.
Historically, Rozier has not coughed the ball up much at all during his postseason career. In fact, he has turned the ball over only 12 times during 454 career playoff minutes spread out over 24 games.
“I’ve just got that confidence,” said Rozier, who also logged 23 points for the second straight game. “My teammates, my coach, they trust in me to get everybody in their spots, to run the plays. That’s just part of being a point guard: protecting the ball. So, I’m going to do what I can to protect the ball and get my guys open to make plays and put us in a position to win.”
Backup point guard Shane Larkin also put Boston in great position to win with his equally sensational ability to take care of the ball. He bounced back from a four-turnover, Game 1 effort by matching Rozier’s mistake-free performance.
In total, the pair of point guards played 58 combined minutes while not coughing the ball up a single time.
“Offensively, I thought he found his rhythm,” Stevens said of Larkin. “He attacked, beat people off the dribble on a number of occasions, made plays for himself and others, and played really aggressively.”
The lack of takeaways was a major concern for Milwaukee coach Joe Prunty. He says his team prides itself on using it length to fluster opposing offenses, so Tuesday night’s effort was not one that he was proud of.
“We’ve got to do a better job,” Prunty stated after the game. “That’s one of the things that we do well: We disrupt teams’ offenses with our length, whether it’s steals, deflections. The other night we had a lot of those balls that we had tipped, but we didn’t come up with them. That’s part of what we do. We have to be sharper, we have to take on the individual challenges and guard our guys, but we also have to defend as a team as well.”
Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo says he will make it a mission to have his coach’s wish come true. He hopes that returning to the comfort of their home arena will help the team reset and get back to their aggressive ways.
“We’ve got to play better, play with more effort,” said Antetokounmpo, who snagged one of Milwaukee’s three steals on the night. “I think as a team, we didn’t show up tonight. Hopefully we can go back home, protect our home, play better and get those two wins.”
With the discipline the Celtics are showing on the offensive end, that goal may not be so easy to achieve. Boston has a pair of point guards that seem to be on a collective mission to take care of the ball, and it’s challenging to combat such collective, mistake-free offense.