Milwaukee Bucks Game 4 Preview: April 22 vs Boston Celtics
By Adam McGee
Major key for Milwaukee – Keep switching
Outside of standout contributions from surprising sources, the biggest factor in swinging Game 3 so significantly in the Bucks’ favor came via a defensive adjustment made by Joe Prunty and his players.
While the Bucks had already approached the series with a much more conservative defense than the blitz-heavy scheme they ran throughout the regular season, for much of Game 3, Milwaukee changed things up further by opting to switch everything.
There have been no shortage of advocators for the Bucks adopting such a defensive philosophy for quite a long time, and Friday highlighted many of the reasons why. Milwaukee is capable of putting out lineups where they’re unusually well-equipped to switch seamlessly without giving up entirely unmanageable mismatches.
The Bucks’ storied length is a driving factor of that, but a good range of physical strength and quickness also factor in.
When the Bucks started to switch, the Celtics suddenly ran out of answers. It’s a guarantee that Boston will have some ideas for how to attack the defense if switching is again the focus on Sunday.
Marcus Morris says the Celtics weren’t ready for the Bucks to start switching screens. “But we’re not panicking.”
— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) April 21, 2018
Potential counters shouldn’t shake the Bucks’ confidence in switching, though. Where blitzing leaves gaps for opponents to exploit, switching, and switching well, leaves the onus on the offense to create their own openings.
The biggest question mark over the Celtics heading into the series was whether they had the offensive firepower to prevail. Switching will beg that question, and having received no firm answers on Friday, Milwaukee should be determined to fire that question right back at Boston once again.