After their third consecutive loss in as many games and their 2nd at the TD Garden, Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics are now staring down potential elimination at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. The odds of returning to the Eastern Conference Finals have gotten slimmer while the frustrations of the team and fans have grown, mainly with the officiating of Game 3 and the offensive struggles of Celtics star PG Kyrie Irving.
Irving, who in Game 4 shot 7/22 from the field, including 1 for 7 from 3 point range, has had a rough stretch offensively after Game 1’s dominating performance (26 points, 11 assists, 57% from the field, 40% from 3, +20 for the game).
Following the sole win of the series for Boston, Irving has sported a combined plus/minus of -12, and now has shooting splits of 37/24/90 for the series (31/83 from the field and 6/25 from deep). Despite this, Irving’s struggles aren’t the sole problem for the team, but merely a symptom.
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Since Game 1, the Celtics bench has scored 40 points in Game 2 (in a blowout loss in Milwaukee) while shooting under 40% from the field, Game 3 they mustered 16 points on 4/17 from the field (40% from 3), with Game 4 being the biggest disappointment of all, the dud of all duds: 7 points, 3 for 17 from the field, and 1 for 12 from deep (Smart with the sole make on 7 attempts).
Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier have disappeared. Over the past 3 games, neither has made more than two shots within the arc, and neither has scored more than 10 points. As two veterans with postseason experience, you expect and need more from them, and with their struggles, the rest of the team struggles.
If your bench is hemorrhaging points and can’t buy a bucket, the more pressure falls on the starting lineup and the more Boston begins to rely on Irving. With Milwaukee making a concerted effort on defense to contain Kyrie, the Celtics have found themselves in the 3-1 deficit they’re in now.
What can be done? The hard truth is, this might be the end of the road for the Celtics. This series can put to rest a postseason run that was meant to ease the minds of Celtics fans. There’s no time to make excuses, no more wiggle room, no more “We’ll get next game”. This is it.
While still struggling, Marcus Smart’s return can help solidify a bench unit that is in need of some order, especially on defense. The longer the series is extended, the healthier he will become, so let’s hope we see some more chaotic, funky energy in the upcoming elimination game.
Hayward and Rozier need to figure it out or make way for someone who can, or at the very least change the starting lineup a bit to make sure they aren’t your primary ball-handlers.
With previous games, we’ve seen some unorthodox changes by Brad Stevens; one I could see potentially happening is moving either Aaron Baynes or Semi Ojeleye into the starting lineup to beef up the defense and Jayson Tatum moved to the bench to provide some firepower.
The biggest thing the Celtics can do is get back to the defensive juggernaut they were for a majority of this season and reestablish some sort of bench offense. This, in turn, eases the workload and pressure on Kyrie to do everything all at once and eliminates forced shots.
The way I see it, the Celtics have an opportunity to steal a road game and earn the right to one more home game. Win a home game with your fans behind you, and now you earn the right to a Game 7. The rest is up to the Basketball Gods, so let’s see if Boston can muster a bit of magic and a bit of Irish luck next game.
(All stats courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com)