“That was as close to a playoff game as I think we’ve had this year.”
Joe Mazzulla was pretty psyched to win this kind of game, against this kind of team, especially at this point of the season. The Celtics had to dig to find their opportunities, fight against themselves and their poor start early on, and overcome some hot-shooting star players.
And he’s right about the playoff-like nature to the game. Not necessarily in terms of atmosphere or anything. I don’t think the building shook in any kind of way it would in the spring. There wasn’t some buzz or energy that made it different.
But the way the Celtics executed down the stretch was very playoff-like. Here’s the rest of his quote:
“That was as close to a playoff game as I think we've had this year, from lineups changing, to matchups changing to coverages.”
Let’s take a look at how the Celtics were able to execute, playoff-style, to beat the Cavs and give us a taste of how they can generate some good offense and stops when it really matters.
USING THE SHOOTER AS THE SCREENER
Here are two variations of using Sam Hauser as a screener to get him wide-open looks.
The first is what’s called the “Spain” pick-and-roll.
Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet run a pick-and-roll, but the “Spain” part of it is Hauser setting a second pick on Kornet’s defender. This is designed to create chaos, especially against drop coverage.
Isaac Okoro is chasing over the top, so he’s on Pritchard. Tristan Thompson is being screened so he can’t drop into the paint, leaving Darius Garland to take over. Thompson, though, is still sticking to his man, which leaves Hauser, the pick-setter, to pop free in the confusion.
Hauser has been getting a lot better at hitting those somewhat contested shots, and this one falls.
“They close out to you quicker,” Hauser recently said of this improvement. “Just working on a quicker release and stuff like that and I think it's come along pretty well the last couple of years.”
Later, when the Cavs decided they wanted to blitz Jaylen Brown on the pick-and-roll, Mazzulla went back to Hauser as the screener.
If the plan is to blitz a star, then send a screener who can make them pay for it. The days of big men being the only screeners are long gone. Mazzulla’s switch to guards screening in this situation led to nine points when you include this Derrick White screen for Jayson Tatum.
Sometimes it’s as simple as sending the guy with the weakest defender to screen.
POST UPS
This was a stated priority for the Celtics this offseason. The Celtics used it to get a bucket and to get to the free throw line.
Posting up is different in 2023. Tatum dribbles into most of his post ups, a wrinkle of modern NBA because wings are now often using post ups to punish mismatches onto smaller guards. This is a simple attack to get into a good spot and take an easy fadeaway shot.
Fourth quarters are about buckets. Finishing off a game is about making shots, no matter where they are on the floor. This is a great way to get Tatum into a comfort zone to make an easy shot when Boston needed one.
Side note: Nice cut from White, but bad read by Jrue Holiday, who should have slid down into the corner. Tatum made the shot and that's what we’re all celebrating right here, but also Holiday sliding into the corner would have been a good outlet if Tatum was challenged.
Anyway, one of the reasons why the Celtics are so willing to get into the post is Kristaps Porzingis, and he used the post ups to get to the line four times.
BIGS CHALLENGING GUARDS
Defensively, the Celtics got Porzingis out of drop coverage, higher up defensively, and switching onto guards.
Mitchell missed long on that because he overcompensated on his fadeaway to try to get it up over Porzingis’ hand.
“Whenever I’m asked or whenever I see and make those reads that I’m up and I’m more aggressive, I can also do that,” Porzingis said. “Especially late game, just turn it on, we lock in and guard whoever. Mitchell, Garland, those super quick guys but me and all of us, we try to keep up with them and I think we’re capable of doing so. Yeah, it’s almost more comfortable for me to be this up and engaged, and back there I’m sometimes a bit uncomfortable, but I understand that’s what we want to do and how our defense is built, so whatever I’m being asked, I just want to do that to the best level I can.”
These are little wrinkles that will win playoff games. Obviously, Tatum and Brown made big plays in the quarter. They're expected to do that kind of stuff and they will very often.
But these other things are going to be part of the plan as well. Boston was able to take advantage of what Cleveland was doing, counter it with some creativity, and close out a very tough game.