Brad Stevens offers exclusive insight into decision to pass on ATO play down stretch vs. Sixers

Brad Stevens had been a maestro with late-game timeouts against the Philadelphia 76ers all series long in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. However, in one of the biggest moments of the Celtics’ Game 5 win over the Sixers on Wednesday night, the head coach opted against a stoppage, despite having two timeouts left in a tie game with over 30 seconds remaining.

The Celtics had just forced a turnover against Dario Saric in the post, which produced a chance in transition for Boston. The Sixers managed to recover, however, matching up as Stevens elected to let his guys play with the game on the line.

A pick-and-roll was the play call with Al Horford slipping the screen and popping on the perimeter. The Sixers responded with the double team and some quick ball movement allowed Marcus Smart to find a cutting Jayson Tatum for an easy layup in the paint.



What prompted Stevens to go away from the ATO in that big spot? BostonSportsJournal.com caught up with the head coach after the win for additional insight into his crucial decision. 

"I just felt like we were really playing with some different cutting from the weak side,” Stevens told BostonSportsJournal.com. “I felt like we had some looks on the previous possessions. We missed some layups earlier in the game. I just didn't want to stop. I liked the way we were going."

The matchups on the possession showcased what Stevens saw in the matchup in real time. Boston had run the pick-and-roll at the duo of J.J. Redick and Joel Embiid on repeated occasions in the second half and got great looks at the basket on nearly all of them.

When they trapped out high, Smart was able to find Horford as a release valve, and the big man remained patient. He forced the defense to commit to him in a 4-3 situation before finding a cutting Tatum on the baseline for a dunk.



When Embiid and Redick defended the play again minutes later, they both overcompensated by sticking with Horford in the paint, which invited Smart to take a wide-open 3. That’s actually a look the Sixers were probably happy with since Smart's roughly a 30 percent shooter from that spot on the floor. Still, the defense on this play was not pretty. A better shooter there punishes the Sixers.



While Rozier’s passing skills aren’t as sharp as Smart’s, his shooting ability and speed make him a tougher cover in the pick-and-roll. You can’t give him space like Smart with his pull-up ability, so you will have trouble slowing him down unless you show with a trap. T.J. McConnell and Dario Saric found this out the hard way a couple possessions earlier when Horford blew an easy layup after a dish from Rozier.



However, this Rozier/Horford combo is likely what also caused Stevens eyes to light up on the final play. All postseason long, the Sixers had avoided putting Redick on Rozier and ultimately moved Embiid off of Horford when an alternative (Marcus Morris) option was in the game.

Now, with the game on the line, Stevens recognized the mismatches that Rozier and Horford had with the cross-matching in transition. Instead of allowing the Sixers to regroup and make subs after a timeout, he rolled the dice and saved his timeouts. He trusted his players to execute and that gamble paid off with the go-ahead bucket that gave the Celtics the series.