Boston Celtics finally get balance in game 7
The Boston Celtics brought balance in game seven, and delivered their best performance of the playoffs
The Boston Celtics made TD Garden proud with a special game seven victory against the Milwaukee Bucks. After a brutally inconsistent series, where the Celtics could not seem to get their best offense and defense in the same game, everything came together how they wanted in a convincing game seven victory.
The most amazing part is that the Celtics were able to hold things together despite losing Jaylen Brown in the late stages of the game. Once again, you took arguably their best player off the court, but it did not matter because everyone else came together.
After a game six performance where not a single player on the team should have been satisfied with the results they produced, everyone stepped up, and there was nothing the Bucks could do to ever take control of the game.
The Celtics were finally able to shoot better than the Bucks in game seven, and they dominated all the other areas they needed to maintain control of the game. The Celtics dominated the rebounding battle by 10, had more than twice as many steals as the Bucks, and absolutely crushed them in transition.
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The Celtics did all the things to keep themselves comfortable, while everything was made far too difficult on the Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo was limited to just 22 points, and Khris Middleton‘s 32 were not enough to give the Bucks any kind of edge.
Collectively, the Celtics had one of their strongest games of the season. Brown was a non factor, but everyone else stepped up in their role, and Boston delivered one of the most balanced and complete victories of the season.
Al Horford tied a career playoff high, and made sure to get everything done for the first three quarters. Then, in the fourth, Terry Rozier went on a run by himself, and put things far too out of reach of the Bucks.
Rozier and Horford certainly lead the way, and carried the additional load with Brown sidelined, but everyone had their moments, and held this phenomenal performance together. Semi Ojeleye finally hit some shots to go along with his stellar defense, and both Shane Larkin and Aron Baynes added eight points themselves.
Jayson Tatum then added one of his most complete performances. He knew when to attack in order to manufacture the points that would prevent the Bucks from going on a true run. Then he added six rebounds and five assists, totaling a team high +24.
Everyone knew what they had to do in this game, and everyone executed exactly as they needed to. Brad Stevens made it clear that you do not need the best player to win a payoff series, as long as you have a balanced roster that is executing.
There is only so much Giannis and Middleotn can do, and when the Celtics get that kind of balance, they will never be able to do enough. They used their defense to make things as difficult as possible on the Bucks, and they used their offense to make sure they were always pressing.
The Celtics actually still managed to leave a lot of points off the board with their three point shooting in the first half, but they did not let that derail them. The Celtics were able to establish themselves on the inside early on, so they did not have to depend on the three pointer in a way that could destroy the game for them.
Next: Breaking down game six shot distribution
The Celtics know how difficult it is for their entire team to come together and execute a balanced and effective performance, but what they did in game seven is a great indication of how good this team can be when they put it all together.