A mix of analysis and observations after reviewing the film from Saturday's 123-120 thriller between the Celtics and Rockets.
1. Kyrie Irving’s defense was a major problem: This issue was expected when the Celtics are going up against a backcourt featuring Chris Paul and James Harden, but Brad Stevens did his best to hide Irving on other wing defenders for most of the contest. The Rockets still managed to find Irving on several occasions, however, and burned him repeatedly. Trevor Ariza made all five of his field goals inside the arc as he drove past Irving on several possessions for easy layups. Harden also took advantage of Irving in multiple spots. The on-ball defense for Irving wasn’t the only issue. He failed to hustle back at full speed in transition defense on a few plays, which opened the door for some critical transition 3s for the Rockets, specifically in the fourth quarter. Irving is never going to be an elite defender but the Celtics need him to be fully engaged on that end when he’s facing a team with serious firepower like the Rockets. That did not happen on Saturday night, which is a big reason why the Rockets still managed to score 123 points despite an off shooting night from Harden.
2. Marcus Smart got too shot-happy in the second half: The majority of the second unit played one of their best games as Celtics on Saturday night, as Marcus Morris (21 points), Greg Monroe (18 points), and Terry Rozier (17 points) were incredibly productive and efficient with their offense. The same cannot be said for Marcus Smart. The reserve point guard had played some great basketball since returning from his hand injury after the All-Star break and I had been pleasantly surprised with his improved shot selection. He wasn’t seeking out long jumpers or 3-point attempts anymore it appeared, particularly off the dribble. He took open looks when they were there but he had seemingly come to the realization that he was a 35 percent shooter from the field and shouldn’t be taking 10 shots per game when there were better options around him. Unfortunately, this trend subsided in the second half of Saturday’s defeat. Somehow, Smart led the Celtics with 10 shot attempts in the second half (3-of-10 FG) and the majority of these shots weren’t uncontested looks. With Morris, Rozier and Monroe getting a combined 14 field-goal attempts in the second half, this was not beneficial shot distribution for the Celtics. The reserves had an amazing night offensively, but it could have been even better if Smart stuck to being a facilitator instead of trying to join the scoring barrage himself.
3. The Celtics did a great job defending the 3 overall, but lost too many Rockets in the corner in transition: Outside of a red-hot shooting night from Eric Gordon (7-of-11 3-pt), the Celtics did a nice job of keeping Houston’s perimeter weapons in check from the perimeter. Having Jayson Tatum matched up with Gordon during one stretch in first half enabled Houston to keep pace with the C’s hot shooting since that’s a tough speed matchup for the rookie. However, a look at the end-of-game shot chart shows that the Celtics were continuously vulnerable in one spot on the floor: the left corner.
Final shot chart for the Rockets tonight #TwitterNBAShow https://t.co/CV6SDR5hdE pic.twitter.com/T2ETxFqMPo
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) March 4, 2018