With Smart on the court, the Celtics do not give up 28 out of the next 30 points scored. That defense was pathetic yesterday and the number of open 3s for Middleton was atrocious. Smart would stick to his man and create mayhem to take Milwaukee out of their comfort zone.
The biggest reason for the Bucks scoring was the scheme. The C's used the same scheme in game 1, which was cheat off all outside guys when the ball goes to the paint and close out hard on the perimeter, hence open outside shots.
Game 1, Milwaukee missed those shots. Game 2 they made them. In game 1 Boston's close outs were faster and made a difference in harassing the shooter. Yesterday the team was slower on those closeouts for sure, or were collapsing too deep making the closeout ineffective.
I am not sure, if Smart was playing in the same scheme that he would have made much of a difference. Just my opinion.
I agree that the scheme was the same and I agree with your statement in general, but my point is that no matter what scheme the team is playing, Smart adds something to it. He tips passes, pressures the dribbler, reaches and grabs the ball from the offensive player, blocks shots, takes charges, aggressively switches, etc. I would have to imagine that at some point in that 28-2 run that Smart would have disrupted the flow of the game. At least one of the plays that Milwaukee broke down the defense and passed to an open Middleton would have been dissuaded either by the inability to penetrate the defense or by Smart remaining attached to Middleton. Smart has instincts that are a different breed from the rest of the league, in which he knows what the situation is calling for and he fills that gap.
I was at a game in MSG 2 or 3 years ago in which Porzingis was torching every person that Stevens threw at him and in the second half, Stevens went to Smart on Porzingis and Smart totally shut him down despite giving up 10 inches int he matchup. It was all about instincts and creating havoc which forces the opponent to play out of sorts.
