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BOSTON – Not having Jaylen Brown in the Celtics lineup means that more offensive responsibility falls on Boston’s new starting backcourt combo of Dennis Schroder and Marcus Smart.
On Friday night, they lived up to the challenge while taking down the NBA’s defending champs.
Schroder and Smart combined for 57 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists, and four steals, providing just enough of a one-two punch to push the Celtics past Milwaukee with a 122-113 win in overtime.
And they did it in true tag-team fashion, taking turns delivering their blows.
Schroder, delivering a season-high 38 points, shouldered the offensive load at the beginning and end of the game, while Smart scored nearly all of his 19 points during the middle portion of the contest.
Schroder opened the game with a 14-point first quarter, nearly matching what he had been averaging per game (14.5 PPG) entering Friday night’s matchup. He, alone, accounted for almost half of Boston’s scoring in the frame, as the C’s and Bucks ended the first quarter in a 30-30 tie.
Milwaukee pushed ahead of Boston in the second frame and took a 55-51 lead into halftime. But then Smart took on the responsibility of igniting the C’s offense out of the break.
After scoring just five points in the first half, Smart caught fire for a 12-point third frame. He also dished out a pair of dazzling assists, including a remarkable no-look, over-the-shoulder dish to Al Horford near the end of the quarter to put the C’s up 88-79.
“He’s our spark plug,” C’s head coach Ime Udoka said of Smart during an ESPN interview in between the third and fourth quarters. “He’s the heart and soul of the team. He saw we were a little stagnant at halftime. He was down on our ball movement, so he took it upon himself – attacked the basket, got himself some shots, but also found other guys.”
Milwaukee clawed its way back in the fourth, but Schroder kept the C’s alive as he retook the offensive reins for an 11-point frame. He nearly sealed the game when he hit the 30-point mark on a driving floater that put the C’s ahead 108-105 with 30 seconds remaining. However, Bucks wing Grayson Allen came through on the other end with a clutch 3-pointer to tie up the game and send it into overtime.
And that’s when Schroder really turned it up a notch. The nine-year vet personally outscored Milwaukee 8-5 during the five-minute bonus period, giving him a total of 19 points from the start of the fourth quarter to the end of the game.
“He got late, and we kind of rode his hand there,” Udoka said.
The C’s have been riding Schroder’s hot hand all week, as he has produced at least 20 points in all three games that Brown has missed due to a strained right hamstring. Schroder has now totaled 78 points in the last three games, shooting 51.6 percent from the field on 64 attempts.
On Friday night, he found his comfort zone by attacking in the pick-and-roll, speeding past Milwaukee's bigs for driving lay-ups and floaters. He shot 16-of-27 from the field, including 11-of-14 inside the paint.
“Trying to get comfortable is a big key for me always when I play,” Schroder said. “My teammates are doing a great job telling me just to go, don’t think about nothing, just play. Coaches as well, front office as well. I feel very confident right now, comfortable, and looking forward to whatever comes next.”
Smart has also looked confident in the last three games, averaging 13 points and 6.0 assists per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field. Together, he and Schroder have averaged 39.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 10.3 assists per game during Brown’s absence, while shooting a combined 50 percent from the field.
Brown will travel with the Celtics on their upcoming three-game road trip, which will include two games in Cleveland and one in Atlanta; however, it’s unclear if he will return to action before the C’s return home.
Regardless, Schroder and Smart should have no problem holding down the fort for Boston’s starting backcourt, as they’ve done the last three games and especially on Friday night.