The Boston Celtics will open their playoff sequence towards the Warmth on Sunday.
The Boston Celtics’ path to the NBA Finals begins in the present day. A repeat of the 2023 Japanese Convention Finals sees Joe Mazzulla’s crew dealing with off towards the Miami Warmth. The Celtics have been dominant towards Erik Spoelstra’s crew this season, successful all three of their matchups.
Yesterday, I examined the Warmth’s offense and its success on the defensive finish. In the present day, we’ll study the totally different actions Boston has run which have labored towards the Warmth all through the season. I’ve chosen to stay with the primary recreation of the season between these two groups, primarily as a result of as they season wore on, each Spoelstra and Mazzulla stored their playbooks nearer to their chest.
The opening matchup between the 2 rosters was essentially the most “action-heavy” of the three conferences by way of set performs relatively than the usual principle-based offense they at all times run. Primarily, there was extra of a chess match.
As a fast refresher, Miami likes to entice groups into taking a bunch of threes however is among the many greatest perimeter defenses within the league. They’re additionally designed to discourage rim makes an attempt, though their potential to defend these pictures is relatively poor. As such, Mazzulla shall be on the lookout for methods to assault the mid-range, get his stars going downhill and create area on the perimeter.
Once I was trying on the play knowledge and seeing how the Warmth are limiting threes, this was the primary play I considered. The Celtics run a double down display in transition. Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis primarily run an elevator play for Jayson Tatum, permitting him to catch the ball in miles of area and get his shot off with out a hand in his face.
Little wrinkles like this are going to be key. The extra open appears to be like Boston can get from deep, the faster they will construct a cushion all through the night time.
In line with Synergy, the Warmth are among the many higher transition defensive groups within the NBA. They maintain groups to 49.6% taking pictures, rating them within the ninetieth percentile for defensive factors allowed per transition possession. So, it is smart that the Celtics would use their scoring gravity on the perimeter to open up dribble-drive offense because the protection appears to be like to construct out to the ball.
Boston places Tatum and Jaylen Brown within the corners, stretching out the protection’s low helpline. Porzingis is on the prime of the perimeter, with Jrue Vacation within the weakside slot. Bam Adebayo has picked up Derrick White. With a mismatch on the perimeter, White assaults off the dribble, driving to assault the area in and across the paint. Vacation 45-cuts, receives the dump-off move and will get the straightforward bucket.
As a bonus, Brown steals the inbounds move and will get a simple dunk.
One other manner of attacking the Warmth’s transition protection when trying to get pictures off on the perimeter is operating a easy ghost display for the ball-handler, creating simply sufficient confusion to open up an off-the-dribble taking pictures alternative. As you possibly can see above, that’s precisely what Sam Hauser did for Derrick White. The ghost display created a split-second the place Duncan Robinson stepped out of White’s taking pictures zone, forcing him to outstretch on the competition, which diminished its effectiveness.
After all, one of the simplest ways to assault a fringe protection is to display it into oblivion. The Celtics have been doing this all season, particularly when trying to get into the publish.
I’d count on to see the Celtics operating slice and wedge actions for Tatum, Brown and Porzingis all through this sequence. Having a type of three shuffle lower into the paint will immediately bend the Warmth’s defensive gameplan — it’s one factor to permit a ton of threes once you’re contesting them, it’s one other to permit them after you over-reacted to whoever is figuring out of the publish. And also you’ve acquired to react to the publish, as a result of the three most proficient scorers are all going to spend time there.
Even on post-entry passes just like the one proven above, the Celtics have the mid-range creation to punish Miami’s perimeter protection and draw bigs away from the rim, limiting the Warmth’s potential to guard the cup.
One of many lesser-discussed points of Porzingis’ recreation has been his potential to create out of the publish and make high-level reads. After all, he can even face up and shoot over you, as you possibly can see within the beneath clip.
Outdoors of trying to assault the center of the courtroom, the Celtics will seemingly look to generate extra driving alternatives through empty-side actions. One play they ran of their first assembly with the Warmth this season was a “Flex Zoom facet PnR.” Now, I’ll be sincere: the Warmth did a superb job of recovering on the play and managed to dam the shot. Nonetheless, I’m a fan of fine processes, and the motion as an entire has a number of outcomes that may very well be useful.
Right here’s an annotated model, too.
Mazzulla’s crew has run a slew of empty-side actions all through the season. Because the basketball calendar drew to an in depth, the Celtics returned to a lot of these actions, indicating they’re prone to make the most of them through the postseason.
By eradicating a shooter within the nook, the Celtics could have extra spacing on the sturdy facet, permitting drives to power rotations and simpler scoring or passing alternatives to happen.
General, Boston has the expertise, system and expertise to crack Miami’s defensive scheme and assault the ideas they appear to comply with when attempting to close down opposing offenses in each the half-court and open ground.
We are going to undoubtedly see some wrinkles, each on the offensive and defensive finish. Nonetheless, we’ve seen the idea of how Mazzulla’s crew has appeared to use the Warmth’s shortcomings this season. We all know the sport plan works. If the Celtics can alter for playoff depth and proceed to generate high quality alternatives based mostly on good course of, they need to be answerable for the sequence from opening tip on Sunday.
Miami received’t be a simple out. They are going to struggle and claw on each possession. Nonetheless, this Celtics crew is extremely proficient and skilled. Now, they only must show their regular-season manufacturing was an indication of issues to come back.
