We haven’t seen it as a lot this season, however in a slowed down, drag out playoff-like environment towards the Bucks on Sunday afternoon, the Celtics flexed their mismatch-hunting muscle in Milwaukee.
As CelticsBlog’s Oliver Fox identified yesterday, what actually makes Boston’s D so good is Jrue Vacation’s skill to protect anybody (and conversely, what makes Milwaukee’s job so troublesome is hiding Damian Lillard on protection). That’ll be the crux if these two groups meet within the NBA Playoffs subsequent spring.
Right here’s the fundamental design of Boston’s strategy to stopping Lillard and Antetokounmpo: Jaylen Brown on Dame, Jrue on Giannis, and Jayson Tatum on both Brook Lopez or Bobby Portis. Under, you possibly can even see Vacation and Horford making the swap earlier than the inbound cross. If Antetokounmpo is beginning above the break, they need Vacation dealing with his freakiness because the point-of-attack defender.
Right here’s the perfect instance of what makes that trio so lethal towards the Bucks.
Brown hounds Lillard from past half court docket, harking back to his MVP efficiency checking Luka Doncic within the Finals final June. Brown had been already dominating Dame on offense and Dame doesn’t need any a part of Brown with the ball in his hand, so he provides it to Giannis to provoke the offense.
Antetokounmpo dumps it to Lopez with ten seconds already burned off the shot clock. Brown and Vacation swap covers on an off ball display between Antetokounmpo and Lillard, however by then they’re already in panic mode with out ever creating a bonus within the possession. Tatum jumps the cross and finally forces a shot clock violation.
Switchable on all three fronts with two different switchable defenders in Horford and Derrick White, it’s troublesome for opposing groups to assault anybody particular participant. Let’s discuss the opposite aspect of the ball.
Final week, head coach Doc Rivers changed Gary Trent Jr. within the beginning lineup in favor of a Andre Jackson Jr. partly in order that groups couldn’t goal each Lillard and Trent Jr. on protection. That also leaves Dame on an island with an ice skate and a volleyball.
Whether or not it’s Brown posting him up or Tatum going ISO, they’re going to eat up the 6’2 Lillard. As CelticsBlog’s Azad Rosay talked about in yesterday’s Ten Takeaways:
Within the closing minutes, the Celtics targeted on exploiting Lillard’s defensive weaknesses. When he switched onto Tatum or Jaylen, they attacked instantly.
Lillard’s presence boosted Boston’s offensive ranking to 123, up from their common of 115—doubtless resulting from Lillard’s defensive shortcomings
And it wasn’t simply Lillard. A part of Doc’s plan is to encompass his two finest gamers with shooters. That’s normally some mixture of Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, and Pat Connaughton. Neither of these guys can deal with the Jays both.
The flurry of three-pointers that the Celtics stand up each evening steal the headlines for Mazzulla Ball, however Joe can be a grasp tactician with a jiu jitsui mindset and that martial artwork is all about leverage and strain factors.
