No matter the opponent, winning on the road in the NBA playoffs is hard. Doing so when a team’s two best players shoot a combined 8-of-32 from the field makes it that much tougher. The Celtics managed to overcome that obstacle on Sunday afternoon, fighting their way to a 110-106 win over the Pacers to clinch their first series sweep since 2011 as a franchise.
For the third straight contest, the game was decided against a hard-playing Pacers squad in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter. A mix of Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Jayson Tatum took command of those pivotal moments during Games 2 and 3. However, Brad Stevens elected to go to away from his usual crunch-time formula for the closing minutes of Game 4, neglecting the usual pick-and-pop option between two cold shooters in Irving (4-of-13) and Horford (4-of-19).
Stevens has had his fair share of detractors all season long and like everyone else in this organization, there were decisions in this regular season he probably would like to have back. However, his rotations and playcalling this series have been spot-on for the better part of four games, particularly when it comes to pushing the right buttons in the fourth quarter. Game 4 was no different as he elected to focus on a weak spot in the Pacers defense and turned the car keys over to Gordon Hayward in the process.
Tyreke Evans gave the Pacers a nice scoring boost off the bench in this series, but his defense has always left something to be desired. He doesn’t fight hard on screens and he makes mental mistakes, which is exactly the type of player who has a big target on their back when the playoffs arrive.
Evans was one of the few sources of reliable offense (21 points off the bench in Game 4), so with his season on the line, Pacers coach Nate McMillan decided to roll with the veteran guard in crunch time in hopes of avoiding a scoring drought which had plagued Indiana’s offense. Stevens responded by inserting Hayward into the game with just over five minutes remaining and letting him spark a 14-5 run by consistently taking advantage of the Pacers' weakest defensive link in Evans.
Hayward’s box score will only indicate he scored nine of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, but he actually was directly responsible for creating four straight scoring possessions for the Celtics in the halfcourt thanks to his constant playmaking against Evans.
“He can do a lot on the floor for us, and he’s starting to show it,” Horford told reporters. “And this is the time that we need him to show it. Regular season doesn’t matter.”
Creating 4-on-3 situations
The formula was incredibly simple for Stevens with Hayward: Get him into a pick-and-roll or handoff action with Horford, which would either guarantee a mismatch with a big (since Evans wasn’t fighting through the screens) or a double team. Hayward helped produce 12 points in the halfcourt on those possessions. Let's take a closer look at those possessions.
The veteran starts with the simple play here. Turner and Evans pull in on the drive to the basket, leaving Horford open at the top of the key. He pulls over an extra defender, leaving Morris with a wide open 3.
Nearly the exact same sequence is called for by Stevens two minutes later, except with Hayward going to his left this time and Morris lined up on the right wing. Credit goes to Tatum here for making a smart cut as Horford receives the pass from Hayward. Tatum’s cut draws in Thaddeus Young, which leaves Morris wide open again for a 3.
Isolation playmaking
Hayward’s been making the right pass all year long, but the more encouraging development in Game 4 was his individual shot creation and decision-making down the stretch. Twice, he drew Turner in a mismatch, the NBA’s league leader in blocked shots this year. The towering 7-footer had given Irving, Tatum and company all sorts of problems at the rim all series, but the crafty Hayward still managed to get to his spots against the center on two straight possessions.
The confidence of Hayward against Truner is widely apparent on this possession at the five-minute mark when he circles back out of the paint so he can get a running start against Turner after the Pacers switch. Everyone on the floor knows what Hayward is shooting for in this spot and he succeeds with pulling off the righty finish despite the foul.
.@gordonhayward is feeling it! pic.twitter.com/MT7GWrs8v8
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 21, 2019
Gordon please he has a family!! pic.twitter.com/Kho5BULJOJ
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) April 21, 2019
