The Celtics-Sixers ‘confetti’ game was only two years ago, but it feels like a lifetime at this point. Currently, there are just six players left from that Celtics roster and only four of those guys (Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Semi Ojeleye) were in uniform that day with Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis out with season-ending injuries that entire postseason.
Yet, in a world devoid of playoff sports, for the time being, this easily stands out as a game that is worthy of a revisit a mere 24 months later. To this day, it stands out likely as Brad Stevens’ best crunch-time coaching performance in the NBA as he guided the undermanned Celtics to their only road win of that near-run to the NBA Finals.
The Celtics headed to Philly up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals for a matinee affair on May 5, 2018. The heavily favored Sixers were looking to get back on track while the Celtics were trying to nurse Brown back to full health as he worked his way back from a hamstring injury. Brown came off the bench in this one with Smart getting the start.
The back-and-forth affair featured plenty of standout efforts from the C’s young guard in Tatum (game-high 24 points), Rozier (18 points, 7 rebounds) and Brown (16 points, 9 rebounds). Al Horford also was an overtime hero with seven points in the period and terrific defense down the stretch against Joel Embiid. Despite all of those performances, the C’s don’t win this game without Stevens pulling the right strings and using unconventional tactics during crunch time on multiple occasions.
Situation 1:
Sixers lead 87-85, 30 seconds left in regulation
Marcus Morris, in the midst of a 3-of-14 shooting night, finds himself with the ball in the corner matched up against Ben Simmons. As he begins to isolate with the shot clock winding down, Stevens decides he doesn’t want to let a cold Morris ruin what would likely be the C’s best chance at tying the game. He shouts at an official for a timeout just as Morris throws up a brick against Simmons, giving him a chance to draw up a play.
Situation 2
Sixers lead 87-85, 26 seconds left in regulation
After putting a stop to the Morris jumper, Stevens drew up a gem that took advantage of the Sixers’ switching strategy. Brown cut from the corner to set a screen for Morris, but he never set it. Brown’s man (JJ Redick, instinctively switches onto Morris who is headed towards the corner as a decoy. Instead of setting the screen, Brown cuts to the rim with a step on Ersan Ilyasova, sealing him in the process. The smaller Brown had the athleticism advantage on Ilyasova and beat him to the lob pass from Tatum. He uses a head fake and finished the layup. The Celtics got a layup instead of a contested mid-range jumper. That’s the power of a savvy play call and terrific foresight against a switching Sixers scheme, while also going after one of the Sixers’ weakest defenders (Ilyasova in the process).
“That’s a hell of a play call from Brad Stevens,” Brown declared after the game. “They’d been switching all game, he called a play, I sealed a switch and scored a layup.”
Even though Morris had the ball taken out of his hands during the sequence, he couldn’t help but be in awe of his head coach.
“That man Brad Stevens is a guru,” Morris said in the locker room. “He might have the best out of bounds plays I’ve ever seen. He called the switch and knew it was going to happen.”
Situation 3
Sixers lead 98-97, 14 seconds left in OT
After the Sixers miraculously tied things up at the end of regulation on Marco Belinelli’s buzzer-beater (that led to the premature confetti drop when it was ruled a 2-pointer), the Sixers looked ready to take command. The hosts built a two-possession lead on multiple occasions in OT, including with a minute left. However, the C’s fought back behind the scoring of Tatum and Horford to cut the deficit to 98-97 in the closing seconds of OT.
Morris rebounded a Ben Simmons putback attempt (Simmons should have burned clock instead with a one-point lead in hindsight) with 14 seconds left and brought the ball up on the right wing. Al Horford was set up in the post against Ilyasova, but Stevens again couldn’t be sure that Morris would not try to win this game himself with Joel Embiid guarding him on the perimeter. The head coach called timeout yet again mid-possession, with only eight seconds remaining in the game, refusing to let Morris decide the game with a contested jumper.
“(This is) my second year with Coach Stevens and I’ve learned to just trust his instincts and judgment,” Al Horford said afterward. “He sees certain things and understands them. I didn’t have success a couple of times against Ilyasova and some of those guys in the post. They did a good job defending it, so he didn’t feel comfortable with it. I wanted to go in and score, but coach just seems like he makes the right decision every time.”
After getting a look at the Sixers defense that smothered and switched everything on his initial ATO (after timeout) play call, Stevens used his final timeout and adapted once more. If the Sixers were going to switch, he was going to find the mismatch he wanted and get the Sixers rim protection (i.e. Embiid) away from the basket.
Embiid started out on Horford during the possession but eventually switched onto Brown who went toward the arc. The same went for Simmons, who latched onto Tatum. Tatum, Brown, and Rozier all brought their men above the arc, which left a wide-open paint for Horford in a mismatch against Robert Covington. The All-Star took his time and finished the layup.
Big bucket from AL! pic.twitter.com/fmAogQhI8v
— NBA (@NBA) May 5, 2018