The Blazers had been the darling of the NBA for the past couple of months leading into Friday night’s game. They had won 15 of their last 17 games overall, beating the likes of Golden State twice, Cleveland and Oklahoma City, among other playoff teams during that stretch.
Matchup-wise, the Celtics were in a brutal spot with injuries to Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart decimating their backcourt depth. With only two true guards on the active roster (Terry Rozier and Shane Larkin) to try to contain C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard, Brad Stevens was going to have to get creative to find a way to stay competitive for 48 minutes against a Blazers team at full strength.
Incredibly, Stevens and the Celtics found a way to get it done. A 12-point fourth quarter comeback at the Moda Center would have been impressive if the Celtics’ had a complete roster to work with. With a roster that consisted of 50 percent rookies, it was perhaps the signature win of the Stevens coach-of-the-year campaign.
Here’s a closer look at a few of the savvy moves that helped the Celtics pull off one of their most improbable victories of the season Friday night.
1. Riding Shane Larkin: Marcus Morris and Jayson Tatum may have gotten the headlines after last night’s win but Larkin was just as integral to the comeback win. He hounded Lillard and McCollum for the better part of his 34 minutes. Both of those All-Star level guards played well (26 points each) but neither was able to take control of the game, particularly in the fourth quarter due to Larkin’s constant ball pressure. Offensively, Stevens handed Larkin the keys to the car with a couple of unique bench units in the second half. Despite being surrounded by a trio of rookies in Tatum, Guerschon Yabusele and Semi Ojeleye (along with Greg Monroe), Larkin directed traffic well. He hit the perfect mix of scoring (nine points) and passing (three assists) in the fourth quarter as that unorthodox lineup outscored the Blazers by 10 points in their four minutes together on the floor. Larkin was due for a rest in the fourth, but Stevens realized how instrumental he was to the C’s chances. He only sat for 57 seconds in the final frame and that awareness was vital to the comeback being sustained.
2. Targeting Jusuf Nurkic late (leading to get him getting pulled): The Blazers’ big man is one of the best rebounders in the league and can be an absolute bully in the paint on offense. However, he’s also a defensive liability against a capable shooting center. Like Aron Baynes, he struggles to close out at the 3-point line and Stevens elected to take advantage of this reality with his play calls down the stretch. By going with Al Horford at the center spot, he called simple actions that put Nurkic in vulnerable positions on defense. The All-Star first buried a 3-point jumper on a pick-and-pop from Larkin with four minutes remaining.
On the next possession, Stevens looked to Horford again, who pump faked Nurkic on the wing and got fouled on a drive to the rim. If you listen to the highlight, you can actually hear Stevens yell “get out” as Horford sets up an isolation in transition, informing the rest of the lineup to get out of Horford’s way as he goes to work.
The two simple plays paid immediate dividends. Nurkic was subbed out of the game with 3:48 remaining and did not return. Meanwhile, the Blazers were left vulnerable on the defensive glass, something Horford took advantage of as he grabbed a game-clinching offensive rebound with five seconds remaining. As has been the case all year, Stevens won’t let an opponent off the hook when he finds a weak spot.
3) Late-game playcalls: The Blazers are one of the five best defensive teams in the NBA. The Celtics are without their top two scorers. Yet, the Celtics somehow managed to get high quality looks to close out Friday’s win time and time again. Look at the execution out of a timeout on getting Rozier a great look at a corner 3 (including great recognition by Tatum to make the extra pass).
T3RRY! pic.twitter.com/tCQNK0rlj4
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 24, 2018