Eight More to Immortality
It was just a few days ago that Bobby Portis put the Bucks one win away from back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics were down and defeated by a devastating Game 5 loss as the percentages gave them a less than 20% chance to win. This season has been defined by moments where Boston had its backs against the walls. On January 16, 2022, the Celtics sat in 11th place while the defending champions were sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference. Two consecutive contests of 17 or more threes, and the Celtics are heading to South Beach for a battle against the East-leading Miami Heat on Tuesday night.
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After the first quarter at the TD Garden, Boston outscored Milwaukee 89-55 in the final three quarters in an environment that had seen their team lose two games on their own floor. The Celtics held the Bucks to their lowest three-point percentage in a playoff game since 2006 against the Detroit Pistons. When the series was on the line, on the road, the player that had been the most dominant out of anyone over the first six games shot 38.5% from the floor. Jayson Tatum has defeated Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo in consecutive playoff series and is just eight wins away from solidifying himself into Boston sports lore.
Following the win, head coach Ime Udoka spoke about the confidence he had in Grant Williams, stating, "I told him, let it fly, they're disrespecting you more tonight more than they had early in the series, and that was the plan on other guys, shifting and having them beat us...stop driving into crowds, take the shot that they are giving you, he broke Steph Curry's record for attempts in a Game 7...two Charlotte shooters, he's going to gloat about it for sure."
What has hampered the Celtics over the last few seasons was the reason why they find themselves moving on to their fourth Eastern Conference Finals in the last six years. Danny Ainge struggled to find the right guys to supplement the evolving stars of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. From Kemba Walker to Kyrie Irving to Gordan Hayward, none of them seemed to fit the mold of a championship team in the winnest franchise in the history of the game of basketball. The formula to break through the ice has been to trust the two stars and the progression of the others around the two of them.
Former Celtics' first-round draft picks Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard knocked down a whopping 11 three-pointers combined on top of their contributions elsewhere. Pritchard collected five rebounds including a team-high two offensive rebounds as he contributed in ways that Udoka may not have predicted. Williams' seven threes were just one of the aspects of his game in this series that shined. Following a tough Game 5, the former Tennessee forward rebounded in the only way his entire team this season knows how to. His defense and strength on the defensive end against Giannis made a huge difference as he made one of the greatest players of this generation work for every bucket on the offensive end.
In back-to-back elimination games, Boston shot the ball with confidence and found its shooters in rhythm in the perfect moments. 22 made threes in Game 7 broke the record for most threes made in a single contest in a postseason game in Celtics franchise history. A defense in Milwaukee that is predicated on not giving up points in the paint, and letting its opponents let it fly, took a tough hit in a season deciding contest. The problem that the Bucks have had all series was the three-point differential as Boston made 53 more three-pointers in this seven-game series. That is good for the largest differential in 3-pt field goals in a single series in NBA postseason history. In the end, that comes out to the Celtics having a plus-159 advantage from 3 over the Bucks in the series.
The only way a team was going to beat the defending champions was shooting the ball at a high level with the difficulty of scoring the ball in the paint given the size of the Bucks' roster. If this was this Boston team at the beginning of the season or a few years ago, Milwaukee would have run through this series. Finding shooters around the Celtics' stars had been an aspect that many people thought would bring Boston to the next level. Who would have thought Williams would evolve his jump shot into what it is today. Every guy in the starting lineup for Game 7 has the ability to knock down threes at a consistent click and playing against a team with that much size in the Bucks, the Celtics had the advantage.
Points in the paint and rebounding were two big categories that the Bucks dominated in this memorable series, but shots from beyond the arc gave Boston the edge. The Celtics started the series shooting one pass three-pointers in the halfcourt, but when Game 7 came around, the ball moved at a faster rate and always found the open shooters. Milwaukee failed to get its hand up on Williams continuously, and he made them pay for the disrespect the opposition was giving him. The first basket of the game set the tone and gave the Celtics a glimpse into the game plan of the Bucks.
There was no way they were going to let Tatum or Brown take over at the level that they have been in this series. Milwaukee forced role players like Williams, and Pritchard to beat them, but the issue is that the Celtics' role players are much better than the ones of the past. A major reason why this team has reached the Eastern Conference Finals is not only the ascension of the two stars, but the support has been better than originally expected. It is easy to say that Boston needs to attack the basket more consistently, but in the end, it took what the opposition gave them, and that was open threes following some fluid movement. When the Bucks closed down on the three-point shot given the shots falling through the nylon, the plan began to feel open once again.
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In Game 1, none of the shots were falling through the cup, but by the end through some struggles, Boston was making the Bucks pay for their lackluster perimeter contests. Milwaukee's lazy defense on three-pointers this series did not bite them at the beginning of the series, but in the last two, the team begged Boston to knock down shots, and with them being as open as they were, the Celtics snatched the opportunity.
If the Celtics were to lose Game 7 on their home floor with the roster at their disposal, it would have been seen as a disappointment. With the TD Garden loaded with legends of the franchise's past from Paul Pierce to Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell, the environment and the crowd was ready to see their beloved team take the next step to the team's 18th banner. The loss against the Heat in the Conference Finals was seen as an opportunity squandered by Boston, and with the window being as small as it is once again, there is not much room for the Celtics to play with. The top seed in the Western Conference has been ousted, and now having beaten two league legends in consecutive series, Boston has everything in front of them to win the title. It is up to the team to seize the opportunity or let it pass by like the ones of the past.
The Bucks were seen as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, but with Boston taking them out in one of the most back and forth series in playoff history, it cannot feel like the job is done. That physical series with the Bucks presented Boston with a new look compared to the Nets and made it difficult to do what all teams want to execute in the end, get easy baskets. Three times in the last six years. That is how many times Boston has made it this far in the postseason, but not once has it broken through to the NBA Finals. The Celtics are seeking their first Finals appearance since 2010 as the franchise has fond memories of losing to Miami twice in this position in the last 10 years.
The exhaustion and quick turnaround to the next series has to affect this Boston team in a negative way. Milwaukee made each game tough to grind out and challenged the Celtics more than they have been during the second-half tear that they went on. Bodies have to be sore, and the legs are without a doubt not in the best shape, and with Miami ending the series quicker, it needs to jump on that advantage. While the Celtics' defense against the Bucks and the Nets were focused on stopping an individually talented player, the Heat are a completely different animal. The defense on Giannis and Durant was phenomenal, but with players like Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Victor Oladipo combined with the toughness of a Gabe Vincent, and P.J Tucker, the Celtics are going to have a lot on their hands.
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With the Miami series looming, it is time to realize how special this Boston team truly is. From a woeful start to the season to coming back down 3-2 against the reigning champions, this Celtics team was born to achieve great things, and in order for those to happen, the struggle must come first. Milwaukee smashed Boston in the mouth in Game 1 with a shocking amount of physicality and contact it has needed to see in a while. Udoka and the Celtics made the proper adjustments to eventually dethrone the champions.
The postseason is always about adaptability, and if those in series changes make a difference on the court or not. Udoka has seemingly mastered this art in just his first season as a head coach. Execution out of a timeout continues to be one of the strong suits of the Celtics, and when things are not always going Boston's way, Udoka knows exactly what to tell his players to get them going back in the right direction. The Bucks gave Boston all it could handle in an all-time great playoff series, but at the end of the day, the Celtics just simply had the bodies to be able to match up against this Milwaukee team.
Giannis is the ultimate x-factor with his defensive and offensive versatility but what was continuously overlooked was the Celtics' relentlessness on the defensive end. What the Suns lacked to stop Luka Doncic, Boston possessed to halt Giannis and the Bucks. Tatum is moving into the conversation as one of the best players in the Eastern Conference if not the best after what he has done so far in the postseason. The trust of this team was on full display and just like they needed it against the Bucks, confidence in everyone on the floor could be the difference in a Finals trip or a tropical vacation. The revenge tour rolls on as this one-of-a-kind duo and the Celtics look to take out the team that prevented them from a trip to the Finals just two years ago.
