DeMar DeRozan is one of the best midrange shooters in the NBA. With the game on the line, the Celtics found a way to get two stops against the All-Star wing in the final 20 seconds to hold off a late charge by the Raptors and escape with a 95-94 victory, the team's 12th straight win. Let's take a look at the final shot of the game to get a sense of what the Celtics did defensively.
The thing that stuck out to me most about the sequence in real time was how the slow the play was to develop for the Raptors. DeRozan came around a screen with 10 seconds remaining on the wing and Jaylen Brown fought hard to stick with him. DeRozan backed him down into the paint as the clock ticked under five seconds before finally pulling up with three seconds left on the clock.
This type of strategy was absolutely baffling to me. The Raptors were trailing and had timeouts remaining so the common wisdom there (when you have enough time) is to get a good shot off quickly so you have a chance for an offensive rebound and/or a foul. The slow execution left the Raptors with neither as time expired.
With that said, Brown deserves a lot of credit for his defense on this play. He learned his lesson after getting called for a foul after biting on a pump fake earlier in the game. This time the swingman stayed down, didn't let DeRozan get too comfortable and gave a strong contest while being careful not to foul. Just like Marcus Morris against Kemba Walker on Friday night, it was sound execution and forced DeRozan into a shot that he was capable of hitting, but wasn't a sure thing.
Here's the last play and Celtics' players exploding after the final buzzer! Love how the whole team is celebrating as they win for the 12th in a row. Wow! pic.twitter.com/to6ayguZRU
— Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) November 12, 2017