#1 – Jaylen Brown driving the Celtics offense
With almost 19 drives per game, Brown is the second most prolific driver in the NBA this season – and last night might have been one of his most impressive games in the paint.
As the mid-ranges and 3-pointers wouldn’t fall, JB shifted his approach toward the rim and kept attacking it, with 10 field goals made in the paint. His craftiness was on full display, like here, where he crossed and attacked the space with just the right timing.
The Warriors tried to force him left and put bodies in the paint to slow down the five-time All-Star, but it didn’t work. The game felt easy for Brown, with very efficient footwork like here. He gathered the ball right before Draymond Green’s stunt, put his foot right between the two defenders while carrying the ball high to avoid their arms, and finished it with a nice touch.
With Nikola Vucevic on the court, the space to attack was even bigger, and Brown made the most of it to punish the Warriors’ aggressive defense.
Overall, 9 of his 10 field goals made came after a drive, showing how aggressive Jaylen Brown was after the All-Star break.
#2 – Celtics flare for space
The Warriors’ defensive coverage didn’t work against Brown’s drives but also collapsed due to the Celtics’ shooting ability and screening strategy. Green was asked to remain in the driving lane and leave Neemias Queta alone because the Portuguese big man is not a shooting threat – however, Queta can screen, and he screens pretty well.
In this play below, the Celtics had just crossed half court and already created an open shot for Sam Hauser thanks to a screen that punished Green’s positioning. The former DPOY wanted to block the drive and leave Queta open. The Celtics big man therefore set a flare screen and created space for Hauser to shoot. As Green was too far to help his teammate who was stuck in the screen, that was money for Sammy!
The Warriors still kept the same approach with Al Horford or Kristaps Porzingis, keeping them near the paint as much as possible, so the Celtics kept attacking that coverage. Even with Vucevic on the court, the Warriors’ big men remained low, and it opened things up for Boston.
Yet, while Vucevic and Queta set the same off-ball screens, they are quite different players. Boston’s pick-and-roll offense changed depending on who was on the court and showed real versatility.
#3 – Pick-and-roll with Queta
As Neemias Queta was starting the game, Boston made sure to use his screening skills to create space on the first possession. The big man set a screen on the ball for Derrick White, which triggered Draymond Green’s rotation toward him to prevent the pull-up. This forced the rest of the Warriors to compensate in the paint to protect the rim, but it was already too late, and Queta earned free throws.
The Warriors kept sending two players to the ball, hoping White would struggle under the pressure, but the Celtics guard didn’t. And as the Celtics’ spacing made the rotations more difficult, it left the paint open for Queta.
The Celtics even added a little twist to the pick-and-roll, with White acting as a second screener who slipped the action and cut to the rim behind the defense that wanted to pressure the ball. Safe to say the Celtics came prepared to punish the Warriors’ defensive coverage.
And while this worked well with Queta, the Celtics were also very efficient with Vucevic on the court.
#4 – Pick-and-roll with Vucevic
The former Bull is a different pick-and-roll player than Queta, offering a new variety of movement and spacing. After a screen, he rolls a little less deep than the Portuguese big man and has more passing flair. This one ended up as a turnover, but you can clearly see the great read from Vuc.
The difference with Queta in how he moves after the screen can also create pick-and-pop situations that put pressure on the defense in drop coverage. This play was really impressive to me, as he caught the ball beyond the three-point line and immediately drove to put even more pressure on the defense. The big standout of this action is the skip pass that created an even better situation. A great flash from the big man.
The Celtics’ ability to play a very different style depending on their centers is a great addition and could go a long way in a playoff run. And speaking of centers…
What is super insightful about a player facing his former team is that it gives us insight into what the former coaching staff really thought of him. And apparently, the Celtics didn’t have a lot of belief in Porzingis’ passing under pressure.
It also shows that the Celtics were wary of Porzingis’ post-up scoring and were willing to take that risk rather than let him attack one-on-one. The Celtics rarely put this much pressure on the ball against a single player and usually prefer to defend the matchup despite some occasional mismatches.
#6 – Boston cutting hedge
Back to the Celtics’ offense, which was really impressive last night. As far as I can remember, I can’t find another game this season where the players had this willingness to cut again and again. Here, for example, the defense focused on the ball with the Pritchard screen, but the important move came from Hauser, who cut from one corner to the other, catching the defense’s attention and creating space for Vucevic to shoot in the corner.
Why did they cut more than usual, you might think? This is related to the Warriors’ aggressive coverage on the ball. With this approach, defenders need to be ready to help, especially on the strong side. Therefore, a cut, like this one from Hugo Gonzalez, is perfect to punish that coverage.
This next play might be one of my favorites. A zoom action with not one but two screens prior to the handoff. As Jaylen Brown ran, Hauser popped beyond the line and White slipped the screen while the defense focused on the handoff with Queta… and that was a trap!
It was all very fun… until the Warriors suffocated the Celtics.
Despite losing by 30 points, the Warriors didn’t give up and kept fighting. They took advantage of the Celtics’ laid-back approach in the fourth quarter to steal the ball over and over and get back into the game.
The Celtics tried to play slowly at first. They ran the clock down to save time, but the Warriors were happy with these bad shots. And every time they were able to score in transition, they put a lot of pressure on the ball and the passing lanes. The defense was so good they even forced a very rare travel from Payton Pritchard.
Yet, it was Pritchard who put the game away a few minutes later.
#8 – Pritchard broke the shell
To break a shell, you need a tool adapted to create a breach. The Warriors’ shell, which was suffocating the Celtics by putting heavy pressure on the ball, had a kryptonite: Payton Pritchard’s deep shooting ability.
The Celtics put Jaylen Brown back into the game so he could hold the ball while attracting two defenders. Then, they made sure Pritchard was one pass away so, as soon as the Warriors trapped Brown, the Celtics could punish them from 35 feet.
Not once but twice, the Celtics used that trick and put the game away.
#9 – Jaylen Brown sixth triple double in career
The beautiful collective performance could make us forget that Jaylen Brown recorded his third triple-double of the season, and the sixth of his career. He is now tied with Dave Cowens, who recorded six triple-doubles in 726 games. The next player on the list is Paul Pierce with nine – could JB catch up with PP before the end of the season?
#10 – Healthy KP and mysterious Horford
The vibes were good with Kristaps Porzingis and the Celtics.
It was nice to see him healthy and on the court after months of ups and downs for the Latvian big man. On the other hand, Al Horford’s words after the game raised more questions about his departure, and I’m looking forward to finding out what really happened.
Nonetheless, this video from Noa at the end of the game showed that, mostly, it’s all love.
