‘We understand what we’re up against’: Celtics need to limit Giannis Antetokounmpo as a passer
The Bucks hurt the Celtics in a familiar way in Game 1.
The advantage of having a true superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo — or Jayson Tatum on a normal day — is that a true superstar forces the opposing team to make a lot of uncomfortable decisions.
On Sunday, Antetokounmpo made the Celtics uncomfortable. As the Bucks pulled away in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals for a 101-89 victory, Antetokounmpo recorded a triple-double — 24 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists. Antetokounmpo was an inefficient 9-for-25 from the field as a scorer, but his assists more than made up the difference and were enormously costly for the Celtics — so much so that they might have to shuffle some of their defensive priorities.
Here’s a freeze-frame from Antetokounmpo’s first assist.
The problem is fairly obvious: The entire Celtics’ defense collapsed to try to contain Antetokounmpo and keep him away from the rim. For three of the other Bucks players, that wasn’t an issue, but Jaylen Brown stepping away from Pat Connaughton gave the sharpshooting guard plenty of room to hit a deep 3-pointer.
The Celtics ran into the same issue operating out of the post.
This time, Smart doubled down on Antetokounmpo to help Robert Williams, likely hoping to force a turnover. The only problem: Grayson Allen continued fading away from any potential help. Allen is on a tear, and he buried a 3-pointer before Smart could recover.
Here’s a similar look with the same result.
The Celtics’ desire to help is understandable — Antetokounmpo is an offensive force who can bowl over just about any defender in his way.
But by forcing the ball out of Antetokounmpo’s hands, the Celtics gave up 3-pointers instead of twos, and the math worked against them in Game 1. Of Antetokounmpo’s 12 assists, nine resulted in 3-pointers (27 points, in other words), and seven of the assists were a direct result of a collapsing defense (as an aside, three of the 3-pointers came in transition off turnovers — another area the Celtics desperately need to clean up before Tuesday’s Game 2).
Throughout the second half of the season, the Celtics picked apart opponents defensively when they double-teamed Tatum — moving the ball around the perimeter to force rotations and find the open man. On Sunday, Antetokounmpo forced them to take their own medicine.
“First half, our rotations weren’t as sharp as they needed to be,” Udoka said. “We were a little slow as far as that. Sometimes we’re going to go after him, sometimes, based on who’s defending him and what position, we want to let those guys guard straight up, especially when he’s looking right at you kind of try to bait you, pass out of that double team.
“We went too quick at times. He’s looking at us and our rotations weren’t sharp. Obviously, those guys, they rely on him to get those open 3-point shots. They had 6-for-11 catch-and-shoot 3s in the first half. So we’ve got to be better as far as that.”
The Celtics, of course, have played Antetokounmpo often over the years and know how difficult he is to guard. They have one of the best defenders against Antetokounmpo in the NBA in Al Horford, but Antetokounmpo is better now than he was the last two times the Celtics faced the Bucks in the postseason — a multi-year MVP with championship experience under his belt and shooters around the perimeter.
Even with Khris Middleton sidelined, the Celtics were reminded on Sunday just how tall the task of facing Antetokounmpo and the Bucks will be.
“He played a great game, but yeah. We understand what we’re up against,” Horford said.
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