Boston Celtics: 3 keys to a Game 7 road win in Miami

Boston Celtics key to Victory No. 3) Contain Jimmy Buckets

There are some out there who believe it’s best to let the best player score a plethora of points but contain the role players. Sometimes that works in the favor of that team’s defense, especially when the star is not a great 3-point shooter.

We saw this a bit in the Bucks’ series as Giannis posted some jaw-dropping numbers but still fell short.

This simply cannot be the game plan facing Jimmy Butler in Game 7.

Marcus Smart was not nearly as good as he should have been in guarding Jimmy Buckets on Friday. Smart sagged off a corner trey and allowed Butler to burry one over him down the stretch.

As pointed out on the ABC broadcast, Smart is a good enough defender to guard Jimmy Butler from deep and still not allow him to drive to the basket.

Butler had his way with the Celtics’ defense in Boston, but that has to change on Sunday.

Ime Udoka has been a savant of switches and adjustments all season long. The game plan for Game 7 could be to double the All-Star more and ask Marcus Smart to really step it up.

One thing that could hurt the C’s is the possibility that Tyler Herro returns from injury. He is their spark plug off the bench and could help take a load off of Butler.

Whoever is in the lineup alongside the star wing is not the top priority for Boston. They must contain Jimmy Buckets in order to reach the NBA Finals.