The Celtics have now misplaced three of their final 4, this one to a Philadelphia 76ers group whose Massive Three has barely shared the court docket collectively. However it wasn’t Paul George or Joel Embiid who killed the Celtics. As a substitute, it was the diminutive Tyrese Maxey who persistently blew previous his defenders and acquired two ft into the paint, the place he both completed an more and more absurd array of layups or sprayed out to Philadelphia’s keen — and uncharacteristically correct — shooters.
(Aspect be aware: Might you by no means discover somebody who hates you as a lot as Caleb Martin hates Boston.)
By the tip, Maxey had accrued 33 factors and 12 assists. It was yet one more in an extended line of huge video games from small guards in opposition to the Celtics. We’re just some weeks from Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell combining for 57 factors on 33 photographs with simply three mixed turnovers. Proper after that, it was Ja Morant for 32 and 9.
And people are solely within the losses. The Celtics have emerged victorious this season regardless of large performances from guys like Damian Lillard (33 factors on 15 photographs) and Cam Thomas (31 factors). Even the Wizards’ Jordan Poole has had two good video games in opposition to Boston in three tries.
This development dates again to final 12 months’s playoffs when Donovan Mitchell torched the Celtics in three video games, scoring 32 factors on 52% field-goal capturing and 53% deep-shot capturing earlier than he acquired damage.
Now, these are all superb gamers (give or take a Poole occasion). All people struggles to defend fast guards. However the Celtics aren’t everyone, and they need to attempt for higher.
(Relatedly, Boston has struggled with quick groups since final season. This 12 months, the three groups with the quickest time to a shot — Memphis, Atlanta, and Chicago — have all crushed the Celtics. Nonetheless, that angle deserves its personal story, so we received’t get into it right here.)
Jrue Vacation is handsy and bodily, however he’s seemed a quarter-step slower this season (he missed final evening’s sport in opposition to Philly). He’s been blown by extra typically this season than I can ever bear in mind seeing earlier than. His superior metrics, whereas nonetheless glorious, additionally recommend he’s having his worst defensive efficiency since his early New Orleans days.
Derrick White is an exceptional participant and defender, however he’s at his greatest as a helper, the place he could be the most effective within the league. He’s slightly extra susceptible as a straight-up one-on-one defender.
That leaves us with Jaylen Brown, who, since final season, has typically taken on the function of guarding the opposite group’s quickest guards. Brown has developed into an amazing close-quarters fighter, utilizing jabs, physicality, and pristine footwork to torture small guards when he can set the phrases of engagement. His bullying of Lillard earlier within the season was top-of-the-line on-ball defensive sequences of the season:
And even final evening, Brown had success when he picked Tyrese Maxey up excessive close to the halfcourt line, like a boxer pushing their opponent in opposition to the ropes:
The issue is that persistently executing that degree of particular person protection over a full sport is untenable. It requires immense vitality and may result in foul hassle. Trendy groups are adept at utilizing screens and off-ball work to get weaker defenders switched onto ballhandlers. Even when Brown had been prime Kawhi Leonard, he can’t recover from each display screen, and he wants extra assist from Boston’s bigs than this:
Containing the swiftest gamers will at all times be a group effort that closely entails the facilities. Nearly as good as Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford are, they aren’t the fleetest of foot. Porzingis is a powerful shotblocker, however he’s been hampered by accidents and hasn’t seemed comfy in area. Horford, in the meantime, has had loads of good defensive moments however doesn’t have the minute-by-minute athleticism to include the most effective downhill drivers persistently.
It’s not their fault. On the perimeter, nearly no large gamers have the lateral quickness to maintain up with one-cut guards like Maxey, which is why it’s so vital to maintain him in a field and present early assist.
Tatum, particularly, stands to enhance. He has spent massive chunks of the 12 months guarding facilities, which suggests he’s typically the final line of protection. Tatum has usually acquitted himself effectively within the publish and on the boards, and I applaud him for that — guarding up a dimension is difficult and infrequently thankless! However weirdly, he normally appears much more involved with moving into rebounding place than lending a serving to hand:
These struggles aren’t simply anecdotal, though they fail the attention take a look at like me after I by accident enrolled in a grad-level pc structure class. Need some ugly stats? In keeping with Synergy, the Celtics enable the third-highest factors per possession in opposition to pick-and-roll ballhandlers. They’re additionally effectively under common on hand-offs, the same offensive mechanism, and isolations. Good on-ball guards don’t battle in opposition to Boston like they need to on paper.
I’ve talked beforehand about why giving up photographs to pick-and-roll ballhandlers and gamers in isolation is an effective factor general; these are usually inefficient playtypes. However that doesn’t imply the Celtics can’t attempt to be higher! Display navigation was a serious energy of Boston’s perimeter guys final season, however Vacation, White, and Brown have all been just a bit bit worse in that space this season. Perhaps they need to take some cues from Donald Duck.
Is it effort, the championship hangover impact? To an extent. Is it a scarcity of communication? No less than slightly. I’m unsure what number of instances we’ve seen Vacation and White leveled like a crash-test dummy at halfcourt after they attempt to choose up a ballhandler excessive, however I do know it’s too many:
The Celtics’ basic defensive scheme loathes overhelping. Watch that Maxey clip once more; see how reluctant Boston’s different three defenders are to go away their males, and that’s by design. Joe Mazzulla is comfy letting guys work in opposition to Brown, White, and Vacation and dwelling with the outcomes.
Ought to he be? We’re beginning to collect a physique of proof that this technique could must be tweaked in opposition to sure jitterbug guards. Nobody within the league leaves his defenders on an island like Mazzulla, and the Celtics’ previous defensive successes show the effectiveness of that technique. The league is at all times altering, although. Groups alter to success. Boston can be smart to bend — not less than slightly — with them.
The sky isn’t falling. This isn’t a dying knell to Boston’s repeat hopes, and so they’ve tallied some superb video games in opposition to scoring guards like Trae Younger (who, to be honest, isn’t very fast) and Lillard on totally different nights. However on the similar time, doubling up as a champion is difficult, and it means plugging no matter leaks within the Good Ship Russell pop up all through the season. The Celtics will probably must face not less than two of Maxey, Lillard, Mitchell, and Jalen Brunson (who dropped 34 and 39 in consecutive video games in opposition to the Celtics final season) within the playoffs. They should begin problem-solving sooner slightly than later.
