3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ Game 4 letdown vs. Boston Celtics

The Milwaukee Bucks must allocate more attention to limiting the impact of Al Horford after the big man was the difference for the Boston Celtics in Game 4

Throughout Game 4, the Milwaukee Bucks couldn’t find the answer to containing Al Horford’s surprising offensive outburst. Horford dropped a playoff career-high 30 points on 78.5 percent shooting and 5-of-7 from 3-point land along with eight rebounds and three assists.

Jayson Tatum also poured in 30 points, but Al Horford was clearly the difference-maker for the Celtics during the resilient win. Horford only averaged 10.2 points per game across the regular season, so his 30-point eruption was a sneaky spark that Boston needed to steal a victory in Milwaukee and tie the series again.

The Bucks’ defense has been spectacular in this postseason as they easily have the top-rated Defensive Rating in the NBA, and they’ve been great against the Celtics in this second-round matchup thus far. However, the defensive game plan has been centered around limiting Tatum and Jaylen Brown. In Game 4, there were many occasions where the attention toward Tatum and Brown generated opportunities for Al Horford to shoot uncontested shots.

Evidently, the 35-year-old center is taking advantage of that, especially in pick-and-roll situations when Horford is the screener since Milwaukee’s drop coverage scheme defensively leads to giving more attention to the ball-handler and protecting the paint. Horford continues to prove that he’s a threat to drain threes at an efficient rate and the Bucks have to be better at acknowledging that.

The Milwaukee Bucks will have a chance to adjust and bounce back on Wednesday night with a crucial Game 5 on the horizon.