MILWAUKEE – This season has been one filled with lessons for the Boston Celtics, so why should tonight be any different?
These Celtics have seen their share of hostile crowds, but an elimination game on the road will be unlike any game many of the players have experienced before in their still-young NBA careers.One of the pillars of road success in elimination games is keeping the crowd from being a factor which is a lot easier said than done.
“Just keep moving the ball and not feeding into the crowd and things like that,” said Boston’s Marcus Morris. “If we stick together and continue to do the game plan, I think we’ll win.”
Marcus Smart added, “staying disciplined. They’re gonna go on a big run. They’re gonna have the crowd behind them; they’re gonna be amped up. This is win or go home for them. So, we’re gonna get their best shot. We have to stay disciplined. When they go on those runs, we can’t come down and take a bad shot or have a turnover. We have to come down, make a move and make them work.”
Here are five under the radar storylines heading into tonight’s Game 6 matchup between Boston and Milwaukee.
Boston Celtics
JAYLEN BROWN
Marcus Smart has earned a considerable amount of credit for how much better the Celtics have been seen since he returned to the lineup prior to Game 5.
But Jaylen Brown has also been a key to Boston entering tonight’s Game 6 matchup with a chance to end the series.
Indeed, the Celtics have been a different kind of team when Brown has gone to the bench to get a breather.
Boston’s on-the-court offensive rating when Brown is on the court is 113.5 When he’s off, it plummets to 84.5. And defensively, Boston’s defensive rating with Brown is 103.5, and 124.0 without him. In addition, Boston is +8.8 when he’s on the floor, and -8.6 when he’s off.
THE 3-POINT SHOT
We saw all season just how important the 3-point shot was to the Boston Celtics. The shot’s value remains just as high now to the Green Team. In fact, it is one of the more telling aspects of their play that tips you off to whether they’re playing. In Boston’s three wins, the Celtics have taken more 3’s than the Bucks – a trend Boston wants to bring on the road.
ALMOST COMPLETE
This is the fourth time these two have met in the playoffs with Boston jumping out to a 2-0 series lead. In the previous three, Boston won in seven games (1987 Eastern Conference semis), four games (1996 Eastern Conference semis) and five games (1984 Eastern Conference finals). So a win tonight for Boston in Game 6 would complete the up 2-zip on the Bucks cycle.
BOTH TEAMS, TO THE POINT
Five games into this series and there has been very little separation between these two teams in several areas of play which includes scoring. Boston has scored a total of 519 points. And the Bucks? They are right there, having tallied a total of 520 points.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Here are a few historical nuggets to munch on before tip-off tonight. Boston is 35-0 in playoff series that began with them winning Games 1 and 2. Meanwhile, the Bucks are 0-13 when they fell behind 2-0 in a playoff series. And when it comes to Game 6s, Boston has a 31-29 record all-time.