It was pretty clear right away that things were not going to go well for the Boston Celtics in Charlotte. The Hornets were making everything early and Boston just couldn't keep up.
But why was Charlotte making everything? How does everyone on the team come out on a heater?
The answer, of course, is that Boston's defense broke down and allowed the Hornets to get their collective confidence. The Hornets hit eight of their first nine shots and all of their 3-pointers in the opening 23-8 run of the game. Here's a look at how the Celtics defense broke down along the way.
Charlotte's first basket of the game is this tough Miles Bridges layup.
Kemba Walker is supposed to check Bridges coming off the screen but he misses, so instead of facing an impediment, his path to catching the pass is clean. Had Walker slid over a little bit more, he would have slowed Bridges down and given Jayson Tatum a little bit more room to get through.
Tatum also gives up the baseline way too easily once Bridges does catch the ball. Tatum is standing straight up instead of getting low and wide like a post defender should. Defending in the post is about using strength and angles to prevent this kind of move from happening at all. Once Bridges got his shoulders past Tatum's, it was over.
It probably would have been nice to get some help down there too. Jaylen Brown didn't need to be that close to PJ Washington. He could have dug down a little. Tristan Thompson could have done a little more as he saw Bridges committing to the shot.
Bridges made a tough move, but there wasn't much resistance there.
This Cody Martin layup is a great example of what getting out and running does to a defense.
Thompson was blocked on this play, and he fell into the basket support, so he's out of the play, making this a 5-on-4. Tatum has a guy in the corner so he's out of the play and Marcus Smart is hustling to try to prevent an open Devonte' Graham 3-pointer so there's nothing he can do either.
Walker has picked up Rozier and he's late to react to the pass. If he had recognized it sooner. He could have slid in to try to take a charge. Jaylen Brown had an opportunity to try taking the charge, but he passed on it. It probably would have hurt, but that's the play in this instance. Slide in, protect yourself, take the contact.
Instead, he gave up the easy basket. I can't honestly say this would have been a game-changing play, but selling out and giving up your body like that does a lot to fire up your team. Instead of Boston celebrating a special defensive play, it's the Hornets feeling good about themselves, turning their own great defense into a layup.
That matters. That's fuel for this run. Now Charlotte is going to start bombing away from deep.
Smart does a good job cutting off Terry Rozier's path to the basket, but Tatum is just flat-footed and not really doing much defensively. It's bad.
He needs to recognize that Smart has Rozier cut off. If Rozier hits a fadeaway from there, so be it. Tatum's responsibility is the man in the corner, and when he's staring at a guy driving down his side of the lane, he needs to be in a good defensive position so he can slide over, dig at the ball, and get back to his man to offer at least some resistance. He did none of that, but he wasn't alone.
Tatum gets beat baseline but he does a good job steering Rozier away from the basket. Graham does a good job recognizing where Rozier is going and relocating to the corner. Walker does a bad job keeping track of Graham and gets spun around. He never saw Rozier's drive and by the time he saw what was happening, Graham was gone and Rozier hit him with the pass. Walker never really contests the shot.
The next play was Rozier's steal off Tatum's lazy pass. It's another momentum play where Charlotte is getting pumped up by everything good that's happening and Boston is getting deflated by every mistake. Now Charlotte starts hitting tough shots.
Those two 3-pointers are more Charlotte being hot than bad defense, but that's what happens in these runs. It's predictable. Lazy, sloppy defense gives opponents good looks. When those looks fall, the tough shots feel easier.
And now, the coup de grace ... everyone overreacting to the barrage of 3 pointers and allowing an easy dunk.
Walker gets picked and Thompson is in drop coverage, but he sees what looks like Graham pulling up for 3, so he reacts to it. Jaylen Brown is maybe a half step too close to the corner and too upright. Tatum's guy is cutting to the corner in an effort to clear Tatum out of the lane, and it mostly works. Tatum is a little too far away and, again, not in any kind of defensive position to change directions quickly enough.
Here's what bugs me about Tatum on this play: Watch him slide at the beginning and turn his head back to look at the ball. The first time he looks, Martin is setting the screen for Graham to go right. The second time he looks, Graham is starting his dribble to his right, which should immediately be a signal that his guy in the opposite corner is no threat. Any attempted pass to that corner would either get picked off or Tatum could have recovered.
He's in position to help at this point.
He's looking directly at the play, yet he keeps sliding to a point where he can't help anymore.
