NBA playoffs Apr. 28: Surprising defeat of league's No. 1 team

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The NBA conference semifinals kicked off on Sunday with the first two games: The Boston Celtics, having home advantage, took a shocking win against the Milwaukee Bucks 112-90 at the Fiserv Forum. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets 104-100 in a tight game at the Oracle Arena, leading 1-0 in general.

Bucks vs. Celtics, a lecture on how to defend the 'Greek Freak'

Al Horford #42, Jayson Tatum #0 and Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics defend Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks at the Fiserv Forum, April 28, 2019. /VCG Photo

No one doubted what Boston could do in the playoffs, but a 22-point victory over the league's No.1 team Milwaukee was still surprising enough. How did they do it? The simple answer was that the Celtics put Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the most intimidating players of today's NBA, in a cage and stopped him from contributing anything useful to the Bucks' offense.

Coach Brad Stevens had particular arrangements for the "Greek Freak": If he handles the ball outside the 3-pt line, ignore him; the moment Antetokounmpo steps into the 3-pt line, Al Horford will step forward to stop him from assaulting the rim immediately. If Antetokounmpo wants to change his penetrating direction or switches to post up, another two players of the Celtics will come to triple team him while blocking his passing routes.

Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks holds the ball in the game against the Celtics, April 28, 2019. /VCG Photo

Such defense worked for several reasons: Antetokounmpo can't shoot three-pointers – sure he can make a few, but it's not his conventional weapon, so Horford has both the size and power to confront him and block his shot, and that's what he did three times in Sunday's game. Boston have probably the best discipline of all teams in the league, and thus their players always appear at the correct time to help. Antetokounmpo does not have the court vision of LeBron James – he is not able to find open teammates with cross-court passing.

It must be pointed out that Milwaukee also had their moments. Khris Middleton continued his remarkable performance against Boston by making three three-pointers; Nikola Mirotic made Boston's defense very uncomfortable with his complete offensive skills; when Antetokounmpo caught the ball in the low block, he could still make those passion-driving dunks.

Khris Middleton #22 of the bucks shoots in the game against the Celtics, April 28, 2019. /VCG Photo

However, these are not what helped the Bucks win 60 games this season. They need Antetokounmpo to be that animal he used to be for the team to rain three-pointers and launch fast break storms. Antetokounmpo also needs to change the way he plays; he is still strong enough to get into a position closer to the basket.

Warriors vs. Rockets, GSW do it right

Andre Iguodala (L) of the Golden State Warriors defends James Harden (R) of the Houston Rockets at the Oracle Arena, April 28, 2019. /VCG Photo

Golden State managed to win Game 1 of the tough series because they were making the right choices in the game. First, to deal with Houston's speed, coach Steve Kerr replaced Andrew Bogut with Andre Iguodala in the first starting lineup and gave the bench squad only 42 minutes on the court. By contrast, Iguodala played the shortest of the starting five with 34 minutes.

Second, the Warriors followed their own way of defending James Harden. Instead of standing behind or beside him to allow Harden open path towards the paint, GSW had every defender of Harden stand right in front of him, and they used six players to defend him in turn, making every point he got as tricky as possible.

Stephen Curry #30 and Draymond Green #23 of the Warriors give each other high give in the game against the Rockets, April 28, 2019. /VCG Photo

Third, though Houston's constant switch in defense gave the Warriors a hard time with their signature give-and-go play in offense, the defending champion did not give it up and switch to a total isolation play. Instead, when Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were on the court, the Warriors kept the ball movement and off-ball movement of players and managed to score easy points in the careless positions of the Rockets.

Fourth, Golden State have Kevin Durant. It's true that Durant committed four turnovers in the first half thanks to Houston's special defense on him. Whoever was defending KD would stay close and try to steal his ball when he posted up. However, when Durant reduced his dribbling and shot more assertively in the second half, he dropped 24 points, and many of his shots were made in in the defense's front, and he's too tall to be even obstructed.

James Harden #13 of the Rockets shoots in the game against the Warriors, April 28, 2019. /VCG Photo

By contrast, Houston were acting like crying babies in the game, from their head coach Mike D'Antoni to ace players Harden and Chris Paul. They kept complaining that the referee failed to call fouls on the Warriors, but they seemed to forget that this is the playoffs and games will get physical, not to mention those ignored fouls by Harden and Paul.

Moreover, the Rockets had no good reason to complain. In over half of those so-called controversial moments, Harden shot three-pointers while kicking his legs forward on purpose, an act obviously to earn foul. However, the NBA has the "Reggie Miller rule" for such behavior, and many suggested Harden should consider himself lucky that he was not called an offensive foul.

Mike D'Antoni (R), head coach of the Rockets complains to the referee in the game against the Warriors, April 28, 2019. /VCG Photo

Houston had no one but themselves to blame for the loss. Besides his obsession with "Moreyball," today's Harden did not shoot to score but shot to earn fouls, which not only lowered his shooting rate but also made him very uncomfortable in the playoffs. As for D'Antoni, his shortage of tactics highlighted that he's nobody when the game does not go as he expects.