The Celtics were able to pick up a rare win that didn’t involve Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scoring down the stretch, but that's not to say they didn’t have an impact.
On nights where they either don’t have it going or other matchups end up being more advantageous, they are still obviously quite important to making sure those other guys succeed. Their gravity is enormous, and it showed up in two key plays down the stretch against Toronto.
First, there's the Kristaps Porzingis post-up to tie the game at 103.
“They were switching one through five,” Joe Mazzulla said of the play. “We just wanted to get the matchup with KP.”
They got exactly what they wanted: Porzingis posting up Dennis Schröder. That's a play that screams for some help from somewhere, but none came because of the gravity of Tatum and Brown, as well as Derrick White in the corner. Schröder is 14 inches shorter than Porzingis, but because no one wanted to give up an open 3-pointer, the Raptors just left Schröder to fend for himself.
Side note: I’m going to pretend this was also some revenge for an earlier stretch in the game where Schröder missed a 3, missed a layup and laid on the floor because he thought he got fouled which left his team to play five-on-four, and then heaved another 3 after not coming up the floor. If I was a teammate, I might think “you’re on your own” after all that.
Anyway, the spacing there makes the play. Porzingis is able to spin into the lane without worrying about anyone coming over to slap at the ball. In that situation, that's basically a layup.
Then later, Brown’s gravity created a wide-open opportunity for White in the corner to seal the game.
Let’s look at this play in pieces to find out how White, who at that point was 5-9 on corner 3-pointers this season, and 2-2 from the left corner, was left all alone to make it 3-3.
First, it starts with Jrue Holiday driving baseline.
He rejects the screen from Porzingis and when he gets baseline, he gets Gary Trent, Jr. to commit to helping. Trent’s assignment is White, and with the score tied, he’s overreacting to a threat at the rim and hoping someone else behind him can bail him out.
That might have been Pascal Siakam, but Brown erased that possibility with this cut.
By cutting to the free throw line, Brown drew a third defender into the paint. Brown was probably looking for the ball, and getting it there for a very makeable shot would have been fine. But Holiday understands the situation and knows White is unguarded.
That's a crucial defensive mistake. Brown’s cut created that space, and Tatum staying at the top of the key made sure there was no help anywhere in sight.
“JB and JT stay spaced and Jrue and KP go two-man game for a shot,” Mazzulla said. “We were just able to learn a lot of things and simulate a lot of things that we haven't been able to simulate yet.”
The more Brown and Tatum allow their teammates to operate in the space created by their gravity, the more it’s going to help the Celtics in the long run. If Holiday, Porzingis, White, and Al Horford are able to make defenses pay for not helping, then it’s going to put a lot of pressure on those opposing defenders.
If they're going to be left on their own to single-cover these guys, then they have to come up with stops. The problem is, all those guys are tough to cover one-on-one, and no team has five defenders who are that good individually. Eventually the help is going to have to come, and it’s going to come off of Boston’s top guys.
Tatum and Brown will have plenty of opportunities to have their 30-point nights. They’ll be doing themselves a favor later in the season when they face more single coverage because teams have learned the rest of the team is just as capable of beating them.