I think Coach Stevens got outcoached by Bud last night. The C's went away from what won them games 3 & 4: ball movement on offense, IT4 playing off the ball, and turnovers leading to fast break points. I question why is Olynyk in this game because he showed last game he's not healthy enough to contribute this series. The C's had a chance to put some distance early on in the game but once again the C's settle for quick shots which were mostly from 3. It has been the downfall for the C's all year, they fall in love with the 3 point shot and forget then can attack the paint. IT & ET have been very good all season of getting to their spots in the paint, Smart has shown an improvement to attack the paint when he sees an opening and Crowder has been fairly good of attacking off the ball movement and shifting the D. The C's gotta get back to Celtic basketball for Game 6 because that wasn't it in Game 5.
This is a gross simplification. You do realize ATL was packing in last night and daring us to shoot. What you describe would not work against that. You have to open up the D, by hitting a few shots, to force them to play honest. The way we were shooting, why would they not pack it in?
You're right ATL was packing the paint, but they have been packing the paint all series long. They understand that the C's are a a high volume shooting team that likes to shoot a lot of 3s although they do not hit it at a high clip (34% regular season, 29% playoffs). The success the C's have had in this series has been a balance attack of shooting 3s and attacking off the bounce off of ball movement. We must give credit where credit is due: the Hawks shot lights out in that 3rd quarter with great ball movement. You say they were daring us to shoot, well if you move the ball you will move the defense opening gaps to attack or to get open uncontested shots. I just believe Coach Stevens did not make the right adjustments to start the 3rd quarter. I have faith the C's will correct there issues from Game 5 for Game 6
