Maybe the Boston Celtics can Win this series
By John Eyler
Or will the Chicago Bulls make adjustments…
Mid last week with the Boston Celtics down two games to the Chicago Bulls and both home games at that, it did not look good. Now here we are with the series tied at two games a piece and hope is renewed. The turnaround is rightly being attributed to the injury and exit of Rajon Rondo and to lineup changes made by coach Brad Stevens.
What was clear was that if the series was played in the front court the Celtics were doomed. The Celtics could not match up with the Bulls inside so the only option was to spread the court even more and hope that the Celtics could use their perimeter defense to keep them in it. This has worked twice and Chicago hasn’t made any successful adjustments.
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It seems that if the Celtics can make adjustments to spread the floor then Chicago might make adjustments to push the game back inside. This is what to look for going forward. The Bulls need to force the Celtics to take shots in the paint. It sounds crazy but that is where the Bulls have the advantage. It will all come down to can they do it.
Another interesting factor is the lineup and personnel moves made by Brad Stevens. He can’t go big against the Bulls so he has inserted Gerald Green in the starting lineup. That was a surprise as was the severe reduction of playing time for Jaylen Brown.
There’s no question that the moves have worked, the interesting question is what did coach Stevens see that prompted him to make those moves. That’s why they pay him. Green is probably the Celtics best offensive weapon off the bench. Green is a shooter who can be creative and generate shots on his own.
Also of note is that Terry Rozier’s role has increased and the minutes of both Amir Johnson and Kelly Olynik have declined. If your tall guys can’t pull down any rebounds then let the small ball team play. This height factor is counter-intuitive. We should expect that going small Chicago would counter by getting the ball to Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic and they would be able to shoot uncontested all night long. That hasn’t happened.
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A last factor that should be noted in this series is that Boston has a deep roster that allows it to make these types of changes. In fact this Celtics team has been making adjustments like these all season long. With the injuries and just Brad Stevens doing what he does it is one advantage that the Celtics can use throughout the playoffs, however long their run lasts