NEW ORLEANS -- Things were starting to look a little too familiar for the Boston Celtics about midway through the fourth quarter in New Orleans.
The Celtics' amazing defense started to get a little lazy, resulting in fouls instead of stops. The Pelicans were starting to walk Boston’s 22-point lead down, and Boston was missing some makeable shots.
The Celtics reached a crossroads when CJ McCollum drilled a 3-pointer with 4:27 to go to cut the lead to 12. What were they going to do to shut this water off and close out what was looking like a very nice bounce-back win?
On the first possession, the ball got to Tatum in the middle of the floor but he immediately swung it to Kristaps Porzingis, who flowed into a dribble handoff to Derrick White, who drew a shooting foul and hit two free throws.
After a steal by Porzingis, they ran the same exact play, which turned into a Porzingis drive and dish to Jaylen Brown for a dunk.
White and Porzingis were the primary initiators of the offense in five of the six possessions the Celtics over those three minutes. They held onto their lead, getting it to 14 with 1:20 to go, enough that the Pelicans simply ran out of time to make anything more happen.
“I think we were getting exactly what we wanted,” Joe Mazzulla said. “We're getting the ball in the post. We had great spacing and we were forcing them to either double or collapse from the baseline. We got a layup to Jaylen and got a three from Derrick. KP got to draw a foul. … I thought the guys did a really good job executing.”
This is the kind of execution we’ve been looking for in situations like these. It’s unreasonable to say “they shouldn’t have given up the lead in the first place” because sometimes things don’t work out that way. The Pelicans are a good team fighting for home court in the first round of the Western Conference Finals. They have a say in the matter as well.
The Pels went on a 13-3 run, but that's where it stalled because Boston did what a team is supposed to do in that spot. They made buckets and made the comeback impossible. They ran plays, made passes, and attacked instead of grinding the game to a halt.
“Tonight we flowed faster,” Mazzulla said. “We got to our spacing faster. We knew exactly what we wanted faster. Mainly because we only ran one thing … I think we got stops, which helped us this time. But we did a better job of flowing into exactly what we wanted.”
The stops were important, and Mazzulla is always quick to remind us that while defense and offense are viewed as separate entities, they are actually inextricably tied. They were able to run better offense because the stops put the Pelicans in awkward cross-matches which Boston could attack. These were stops they weren’t getting in Atlanta, and the reason is obvious.
“We have been grinding throughout the season to build up this record that we have. And I think it's just human nature to kind of not be able to give that level of intensity every night,” Porzingis admitted. “Tonight we did it for three quarters. … Joe is doing a great job of preparing us for those games. Even the Atlanta game, it's just, you know, he's doing everything he can. And we have to go out there and be soldiers and just take care of business.”
The way the Celtics played at both ends of this game was a well-timed reminder of their full capabilities. The late-game execution is a very nice glimpse into an alternate universe where Tatum and Jaylen Brown can play off their teammates instead of teammates playing off of them. It’s a very clear look into a crystal ball where throwing different defenses at the Celtics can result in very different offensive answers.
“We know what Derrick is capable of,” Jrue Holiday said. “Obviously a shooting threat, getting into the paint with the floater, but I think making the right plays the biggest part. So giving him the ball, him and KP going screen and roll, and making a play out of it is something that we trust DWhite with.”
Earlier this year, Commissioner Adam Silver said he wanted basketball analysis that went beyond “this team just wanted it more.” But sometimes, that is the analysis. And it wasn’t even that the Celtics wanted it more, per se. They won this game because they trusted everyone to make plays, and, frankly, because they wanted it, period.
“We believe we can beat anybody,” Porzingis said. “It's our own battle right now to just play up to that intensity every night. … We have to show up every night at this level and it's on us. It's us. It's us if we just do our job, then the result is this.”