Milwaukee Bucks: Grades from 104-102 Game 4 win over Boston Celtics

The biggest question for Joe Prunty coming out of Game 4 is what happened to the defense in the second half. <p>Did the players lose focus or get complacent to lead to open three-pointers and countless easy looks inside, or did Prunty move away from a defensive approach that had worked so well for his team over the best part of the previous six quarters?</p> <p>My gut instinct is the players dropped their intensity and concentration, but Prunty and his staff will still have to work on preventing any repeat of that throughout the remainder of the series. The offense proved to be equally troublesome down the stretch, but at this point that isn’t surprising.</p> <p>Prunty’s bravest and boldest call, and one that ultimately worked out very nicely, was re-inserting Jabari Parker back into the game to defend the Celtics on the game’s final possession. This could have backfired spectacularly, but it was also a move that afforded Prunty the chance to reward Parker for stellar defensive efforts earlier in the game, while also testing him to repeat those feats in helping his team to secure a win.</p> <p>Through all of Parker’s frustrations of late, Prunty has done an excellent job of holding the player accountable, while also being completely fair. When Parker’s minutes were cut in Games 1 and 2, it was merited, much as increased effort and improved performance over the last two games have led to his deserved reinstatement of sorts.</p> <p>Joe Prunty is almost certainly not going to be Milwaukee’s head coach beyond this playoff run, but he’s applied himself very well in the postseason so far, and deserves credit for the job he’s managing to do under challenging circumstances. #PlayoffPrunty was never going to be perfect, but he’s exceeded expectations so far.</p>. Head Coach. Milwaukee Bucks. JOE PRUNTY. B