BROOKLYN, NY -- Kyrie Irving went off in Game 1, scoring 39 points and nearly carrying the Brooklyn Nets to a win on a night Kevin Durant simply didn’t have it (thanks to some really tough Boston defense).
That was not the case in Game 2, though, as the Celtics held him to 10 points on 4-13 shooting. The combination of Irving and Durant both essentially being shut down was a 29-point swing where an early 17-point Nets lead turned into a 12-point deficit by the late fourth quarter.
Boston’s adjustment was simple.
Here’s how Boston’s drop coverage looked in Game 1:
Say what you want about Irving, but if you give him this shot early, you’re begging him to get going on you.
In Game 2, the Celtics adjusted by bringing the big up higher on the pick and roll and making things much more uncomfortable for him.
Right away you see Daniel Theis stepping up a lot higher than he did in Game 1. There is no threat of Andre Drummond rolling fast out of that pick so Theis has time to let the play develop. He does a great job retreating just as Drummond gets into pocket pass range to take that away. By then, Marcus Smart has recovered can can get a strong contest on the shot.
It was Smart who was yelling at Theis from the bench in Game 1 to come up higher on those screens. In Game 2, Smart got the opportunity to show Theis why that was important with plays like that, and also this one.
There's Al Horford doing the same job (with a little more fluidity). He’s able to step up to keep Irving from feeling comfortable pulling up with any rhythm but he’s also able to get back to the roller with plenty of time to spare. Smart again gets the strong contest.
Side note: This is why Defensive Player of the Year is such a team award. All of the stats in this game will show the job Smart did on Irving. According to NBA.com tracking data, Smart was on Irving 54.6 percent of the time he was in the game. Irving scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting in 8:21 defended by Smart.
The numbers show Smart was elite against Irving, but what those numbers fail to show is the context of the defense played. Theis and Horford stepped up to help Smart get off the picks and back into position to affect the shot. What makes Smart so great as a defender is that he gets back into plays like this rather than die on the screen. A lot of times it’s simply a matter of effort.
Grant Williams also need some love for his defensive efforts overall in Game 2, and specifically on the shutting down of Irving. Williams spent a lot of defensive time being a human brick wall in front of Kevin Durant, forcing the slender 7-footer to basically do blocking sled drills just to get open.
Williams was also an effective helper on Irving, showing the value of his versatility on the defensive end. Watch this kid work.
The only shot was a tough mid-range shot that needed four bounces to finally fall through the net.
“Ime (Udoka) knows us really well,” Irving said after the Game 2 loss. “You know, he coached on our staff last year, so I think he has some keys in the treasure chest that he's telling those guys. And this is what makes it special though, on the on the flip side; it's just being able to find some weaknesses in their defense and get their bodies moving and when they're on the swivel - when we have the ball popping and they're on a swivel and they have to close out to our drives.”
The problem for Brooklyn is that they're not willing to hit the open man as much as they should, which could be part of that intimate knowledge Udoka has with this team. He knows that Irving isn’t going to go down the stretch against the Celtics and start hunting assists. That's not what Irving does. He has a one-track mind in those situations, and that's all about hitting shots.
Durant can be more of a ball-mover, but he’s getting worn down by the ends of these games. The Celtics have done a great job cutting his legs out from under him with physical play. With Irving, this seems to be a bit more of a mental game. They know what he’s looking to do, and they know what he’s not going to do, especially in late-game situations. They are, in essence, turning Irving’s greatest strengths into his greatest weakness.
This will all be exacerbated by the eventual return of Robert Williams. Irving will not be so keen on driving against the human pogo stick, even if Williams is rusty and winded. It’s certainly possible Irving and Durant will have a big game or two in this series, but Udoka understands this is about winning four out of seven games. This defensive game plan, if it’s continued to be executed at this level, makes it hard to imagine these guys will pull it together to suddenly win four out of the next five games.