Boston Celtics Are Closing Games With Defense

The biggest difference between the two loses and the two wins for the Boston Celtics in this series has been the offense. The Celtics have gone from absolutely rock bottom offensively, to just enough to allow their defense to take over games. Offense is where the Celtics needed to improve in after games one and two but defense continues to be the reason why the Celtics have any success.

One of the problems has been that the Atlanta Hawks are missing a lot of shots that we expect them to make but the Celtics defense is challenging everything they do in every phase of the game, and everything picks up when the game is on the line. In these last two games the Celtics have absolutely shut down the Hawks in the final five minutes of regulation and overtime. The Celtics are somehow managing to increase the pressure they put on the Hawks and there has been absolutely no hope for them to find any open looks.

Last night was a career game for Marcus Smart, including 11 straight points scored down the stretch, but the real impact came from his defense on Paul Millsap. Millsap was beyond unstoppable. The Celtics tried covering him with anyone on their roster and he continued to score with ease, often through contact. Millsap was looking like he could become the first 50 point scorer of the playoffs, until the Celtics finally found the answer.

Smart took on the Hawks’ best player and, despite being a guard covering a forward, Smart completely took him out of the game. Millsap closed with just two points and other than back to back deep threes from Jeff Teague, the Hawks had no answer for that Celtics defense.

The Celtics have improved on offense in the last two games but don’t let that fool you into thinking they are winning because of offensive dominance. In game four the Celtics shot 33.3% from three and 42.6% overall, and in game three they shot 34.4% from three and 46.3% overall. The Celtics have not magically turned into an elite shooting team, they are, however, doing enough to allow their defense to take over.

The Hawks’ defenes has continued to play well as those percentages are all around the Celtics’ averages of 43.9% and 33.5% from three. The key for the Celtics has not been dominating on offense, the key has been finding the ways to score like they have all season long.

Then, on defense, the Celtics have been absolutely spectacular, and that is without arguably their strongest defender in Avery Bradley. The Celtics have done a spectacular job of closing out the Hawks and in the last five minutes of regulation and overtime of the last two games, the Hawks have been held to just 5-29 from the field. The Hawks have shot over 40% on the season but they have had no success in attacking the Celtics to close out games.

The Celtics are a young and inexperienced team and normally that leads to issues in the clutch moments. The Celtics have managed to skip over that hump by taking all the pressure off their offensive execution and doing all the hard work on the defensive end. That amazing defense to close games has also allowed them to get running in transition and that is where they are most comfortable and get the looks they need to score.

The Celtics depend greatly on their rhythm and because of the outstanding job their defense is doing, they are staying in rhythm to close out games. The Celtics have also done this with some one the more obscure lineups they have used all season long. Jonas Jerebko is the biggest surprise but every player that Stevens puts on the court to close these games has been active and contesting shots in a way that has kept the Hawks out of their game when it matters most.

The front court is where the Celtics get the most credit defensively and Marcus Smart has given Jae Crowder all the pressure he can handle as best defender in this series, but the most important thing for the Celtics has been finding ways to slow down the Hawks’ dominant front court. In game four, the answer was a undersized Smart who did the seemingly impossible in shutting down Millsap.

Smart will be getting much of the credit because of the job he did on Millsap but this has been a collective effort for the Celtics. They are playing in a way that prevents them form ever having a liability on the defensive end and they are finding ways to defend one of the stronger front courts in the NBA with an undersized lineup.

Next: Stevens Outcoaching Budenholzer

The Celtics’ defense has been making up for their poor shooting all season long. In games one and two the Celtics were beyond disastrous on the offensive send, to the point where their defense could not do enough to win. In games three and four, the Celtics are shooting right around their season averages and that has allowed their stellar defense to take over when it matters most.