BOSTON — The Boston Celtics claimed victory in Game 1 of their first-round NBA playoff matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, but it was no thanks to their second-quarter performance.
Boston was downright atrocious in the second frame, getting outscored 30-15 and shooting a disastrous 4-for-20 from the field while committing five turnovers. To be kind, their shot selection was questionable, and it negated the 15-0 run they put together in the final minutes of the first quarter.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was asked about the second quarter following the game, and he gave a hilarious description of the meltdown.
“That was part of our plan, to kind of lull them into a false sense of security,” Stevens joked. “Never attack the paint, just throw it to the other team and let them score whenever they want. We thought maybe that would wear them out. Turns out it didn’t look like a good plan, so we had to readjust, make those hard halftime adjustments, throw it to our team, and try to do what we did in the first quarter.”
Well put.
Stevens went on to note that there really weren’t many adjustments to be made at the half, rather increase the sense of urgency to do things better.
That plan proved to work out much better, as the Celtics’ second-half rebound resulted in a 113-107 overtime victory.
