Celtics vs Da Culture - Round 1 (FIGHT!)

[BaseballJones]

I think the Celtics win this series in 5 but i don’t like the hand waving here.

I didn’t think it would be 16-0…I also didn’t think they’d lose at home to the JV Heat.

On the one hand, it's the NBA, and I can't stand when the Celtics win (happens like every year in the playoffs) coming here and seeing people talk like the other team really has no answers for the Celtics...how will the other team even score...how will they be able to stop Boston, etc. Happens all the time. But then the other team actually has good players too, and they are more than capable of winning games, and I, for one, am never surprised when the opponent wins. It doesn't take very much in the NBA for the lesser team to beat the superior team.

But on the other hand, I'm also not too worried. I think over a 7 game series, Boston will win 4. But it just might be a slog is all. Winning game 3 would go a long way towards putting my mind a little more at ease though.

 

[NoXInNixon]

The defense did clamp down in the 4th quarter last night, but the Heat just hit every contested shot.

I was more concerned that the ball movement stopped on offense. Everybody was playing Iso and the offense just stagnated.

 

[Light-Tower-Power]

On the one hand, it's the NBA, and I can't stand when the Celtics win (happens like every year in the playoffs) coming here and seeing people talk like the other team really has no answers for the Celtics...how will the other team even score...how will they be able to stop Boston, etc. Happens all the time. But then the other team actually has good players too, and they are more than capable of winning games, and I, for one, am never surprised when the opponent wins. It doesn't take very much in the NBA for the lesser team to beat the superior team.

But on the other hand, I'm also not too worried. I think over a 7 game series, Boston will win 4. But it just might be a slog is all. Winning game 3 would go a long way towards putting my mind a little more at ease though.

Losing Game 3 against this mediocre Heat team and locking in an uphill battle 6 or 7 game series would be an abject disaster. They need to take care of business in Miami and come back to Boston with the opportunity to close them out in 5. They cannot keep playing 6 or 7 game series against inferior teams in the early rounds if they want to break through.

 

[BaseballJones]

The defense did clamp down in the 4th quarter last night, but the Heat just hit every contested shot.

I was more concerned that the ball movement stopped on offense. Everybody was playing Iso and the offense just stagnated.

It's easy to fall back on bad habits. It's really hard to play high-level basketball against a committed opponent for 48 minutes, game after game. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to consistently, game after game, move the ball like they're supposed to. But that's what they need to do - when they lapse, losing happens.

 

[BigSoxFan]

Isn't this confirming that the celts didnt play good defense AND the Heat had an outlier shooting night? They shot 41.3% on wide open 3s this year...65.2% last night.

Bingo. Celtics opened the door for shooting variance disaster and the Heat, to their credit, walked right through. If they had shot at their normal rate, I still wouldn’t have loved the defense. But they likely win that game.

Bottom line is that you can be both bad AND unlucky. Last night was a perfect example of this.

 

[bankshot1]

Spo, as some expected, came up with a G2 game plan that addressed what he learned from G1. And the Heat executed. And won.

Now its CJM's turn to learn from G2 and adjust and hope his players buy in and execute and regain HCA.

I think the key is D, contest hard, get stops, play aggressive transition and push pace and move the ball. And they should be fine.

Celts are the deeper team and the far more talented team, but the mismatch on the bench in this series I worried about last year is still there.

 

[benhogan]

“Moderately to heavily contested”

Yikes ... Thanks for posting Keith Smart's tweet. Didn't realize it was that bad, but confirms what we all saw.

They didn't guard the 3pt line & frankly they left Mami open a bunch of times in G1.

C's will go as far as their defense carries them.

Agree with @Eddie Jurak that 2-BIGZ was ineffective. Would like to see more of Sam Hauser (& Derrick White), who are capable of guarding the Heat Wings on the perimeter and hitting moving 3s.

 

[lexrageorge]

On the one hand, it's the NBA, and I can't stand when the Celtics win (happens like every year in the playoffs) coming here and seeing people talk like the other team really has no answers for the Celtics...how will the other team even score...how will they be able to stop Boston, etc. Happens all the time. But then the other team actually has good players too, and they are more than capable of winning games, and I, for one, am never surprised when the opponent wins. It doesn't take very much in the NBA for the lesser team to beat the superior team.

But on the other hand, I'm also not too worried. I think over a 7 game series, Boston will win 4. But it just might be a slog is all. Winning game 3 would go a long way towards putting my mind a little more at ease though.

A 7 game series against a Miami team without Butler is a disaster. For one, there is no guarantee that a Game 7 outcome will be positive. An untimely sprained ankle coupled with shooting variance means a humiliating first round exit, which would basically mean the entire season is an utter failure. A 7 game series in the opening round is also not what this team needs in order to take the next step. The 2008 Celtics were able to get away with it against the Hawks, but this Butler-less Miami roster is far worse than that Hawks team.

It's been 10 years since the last time a championship winning team was pushed to 7 games in the opening round (Spurs vs Mavericks), so a 7-game opening series is not normally a good prognostic outcome even for the series winner.

EDIT: This Celtics team has generally played well this season after bad losses, and could easily find another gear and win both in Miami. But the pressure will be on Boston in Game 3.

 

[CreightonGubanich]

The Celtics need to stay home on Miami's shooters even it if means Bam Adebayo scores 45 points. Herro was really good last night, but Miami was generating good looks from three when Herro was on the bench by running offense through Duncan Robinson off the dribble. That cannot happen. It's maddening, but it's fixable.

The bigger problem was offensively. We talk all the time about how teams hunt mismatches in the playoffs, but this Celtics offense is too good to get bogged down that way. Just run your offense, there's mismatches all over the floor. Don't waste 18 seconds of the shot clock trying to get Herro or Robinson in a switch. The entire Celtics starting lineup can score on any of these guys, just get the ball and go.

 

[lars10]

Yikes ... Thanks for posting Keith Smart's tweet. Didn't realize it was that bad, but confirms what we all saw.

They didn't guard the 3pt line & frankly they left Mami open a bunch of times in G1.

C's will go as far as their defense carries them.

Agree with @Eddie Jurak that 2-BIGZ was ineffective. Would like to see more of Sam Hauser (& Derrick White), who are capable of guarding the Heat Wings on the perimeter and hitting moving 3s.

I’d like to know how many of those threes were wide open because Bam was blocking like a lineman.. it’s a huge advantage to be able to move on picks. Hard to take this sport too seriously when it’s let go every time.

 

[benhogan]

I’d like to know how many of those threes were wide open because Bam was blocking like a lineman.. it’s a huge advantage to be able to move on picks. Hard to take this sport too seriously when it’s let go every time.

Indeed, but not shocking. They've faced this before. Bam's moving screens are expected and need to be part of the game plan.

One fix is to have Tatum or Brown physically guard Bam and go switchy on the perimeter on Bam picks.

which means, no 2BIGZ with KP guarding Jaquez or Highsmith (which is what I'm expecting)

 

[Kliq]

The bigger problem was offensively. We talk all the time about how teams hunt mismatches in the playoffs, but this Celtics offense is too good to get bogged down that way. Just run your offense, there's mismatches all over the floor. Don't waste 18 seconds of the shot clock trying to Robinson in a switch. The entire Celtics starting lineup can score on any of these guys, just get the ball and go.

This was what I saw, too much matchup hunting in clunky ways that slowed down the offense. One play in the third quarter stands out. Brown has Herro on him, so KP comes over and sets a screen to try and then get a mistmatch where Herro is guarding KP. That would be fine if it worked, but now you have KP bringing over an actual good defender in Bam into the play, and relying on not-super-great passer Jaylen Brown to make a good pass to set up the KP/Herro mismatch.

In that situation, Brown (or whoever Herro is guarding) just needs to cook Herro. ISO ball wasn't as much of a problem last night as trying to constantly get the ideal switch, which dramatically slowed down the offense and made it harder for the Celtics to score.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

For those asking why the Cs would choose to help on Bam vs staying with the perimeter shooters, really simple math might explain it.

If Bam is shooting 55% or better (this series) and the Cs think the devil's brew of Martin, Jaquez and Highsmith aren't likely to be better than league average - and that's a fair bet regardless of SVG's propaganda on the broadcast - the math makes sense.

2 x .55 = 1.10
3 x .366 = 1.098

I am not saying this is why Boston lost or even that it is a good strategy - it just explains what we saw in the game.

If Bam is eating, the Cs have a problem in this series. I would expect one G3 adjustment to be a tweak of the overall strategy to contain him.

 

[benhogan]

This was what I saw, too much matchup hunting in clunky ways that slowed down the offense. One play in the third quarter stands out. Brown has Herro on him, so KP comes over and sets a screen to try and then get a mistmatch where Herro is guarding KP. That would be fine if it worked, but now you have KP bringing over an actual good defender in Bam into the play, and relying on not-super-great passer Jaylen Brown to make a good pass to set up the KP/Herro mismatch.

In that situation, Brown (or whoever Herro is guarding) just needs to cook Herro. ISO ball wasn't as much of a problem last night as trying to constantly get the ideal switch, which dramatically slowed down the offense and made it harder for the Celtics to score.

Ha. I remember that exact play, gawd KP was braindead last night. He took Bam over late in the shot clock also, when JB had Herro all to himself.

For whatever reason, KP was just off last night. I expect he'll come back strong, he's smart enough to figure this out (at least I hope so )

 

[Auger34]

I’d like to know how many of those threes were wide open because Bam was blocking like a lineman.. it’s a huge advantage to be able to move on picks. Hard to take this sport too seriously when it’s let go every time.

There are missed calls every game but one stands out to me….

I believe in the 2nd quarter Jaylen was guarding Herro, Bam had a moving screen so egregious he literally clipped Browns hip and caused him to fall over, leaving Herro wide open for a corner 3…and somehow it was missed

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Yes. Spo is a smart coach who makes great in-series and in-game adjustments. If the Cs had one of those they’d probably not only be up 2-0 they’d also be the defending champions.

100%! If the Celtics had a coach who is in many people’s conversation as the GOAT we would have won last night.

Joe.Must.Go!!!!

“Moderately to heavily contested”

This right here was the difference in how each team defended last night. Yes, make or miss was a real deal but it goes much deeper than that. We played soft on the perimeter with no urgency despite not having Jimmy on the door to exploit a commitment to defending the 3. Miami, OTOH, committed fully to coming over screens to take the ballhandler out of his shooting rhythm, deny ball movement on the perimeter and forcing us to shoot 2’s. We excelled all season in winning the math game….last night we lost it. Sense of urgency defensively and shooting variance, this is why we lost however we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities to affect the latter. We move on.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

Everyone was making threes last night, but the constant over the last nine playoff games against these guys seems to be Caleb Fucking Martin. 27-55 overall and 19-33 in the 5 wins. (He was 5-15 against the Celtics in the regular year.)

 

[reggiecleveland]

The defense did clamp down in the 4th quarter last night, but the Heat just hit every contested shot.

I was more concerned that the ball movement stopped on offense. Everybody was playing Iso and the offense just stagnated.

This is my biggest concern with this group of coached/players. They come out flat and seemingly surprised by adjustments the other team made, then are good enoiugh to claw their way back. But, at home the lack of energy and initiative in the 1st quarter is worrisome. To have a chance of a title they have to fix this. There are better teams than the Heat if they get past this round, and their best chance against closers like Denver is a good start to the game.

 

[bankshot1]

If as we believe, the NBA has become more lenient re fouls and whistles, then Finesse v Physical is a tough match-up for Finesse.

And WE FINESSE.

CJM might want to tell his fellas, get up close and a little more physical on D.

Be aggressive.

See what happens.

 

[jarules1185]

For those asking why the Cs would choose to help on Bam vs staying with the perimeter shooters, really simple math might explain it.

If Bam is shooting 55% or better (this series) and the Cs think the devil's brew of Martin, Jaquez and Highsmith aren't likely to be better than league average - and that's a fair bet regardless of SVG's propaganda on the broadcast - the math makes sense.

2 x .55 = 1.10
3 x .366 = 1.098

Well, someone did post in this thread earlier that the Heat shot 41.3% on wide-open threes this season. Which changes the math to 3 * .413 = 1.24 points per shot, which is meaningful.

That Keith Smith tweet outright says that out of 43 Heat three point attempts, 37 were open. That's just an unsuccessful scheme, either by design or execution, regardless of how much Bam help is involved. The Celtics have the offense to keep up with that, but they shouldn't have to.

(Edit: fixed from Silent Bob)

 

[Auger34]

Well, someone did post in this thread earlier that the Heat shot 41.3% on wide-open threes this season. Which changes the math to 3 * .413 = 1.24 points per shot, which is meaningful.

That Kevin Smith tweet outright says that out of 43 Heat three point attempts, 37 were open. That's just an unsuccessful scheme, either by design or execution, regardless of how much Bam help is involved. The Celtics have the offense to keep up with that, but they shouldn't have to.

I had no idea the View Askewniverse included the Celtics now.....I always thought he was a hockey fan and rooted for the Devils

 

[Auger34]

This right here was the difference in how each team defended last night. Yes, make or miss was a real deal but it goes much deeper than that. We played soft on the perimeter with no urgency despite not having Jimmy on the door to exploit a commitment to defending the 3. Miami, OTOH, committed fully to coming over screens to take the ballhandler out of his shooting rhythm, deny ball movement on the perimeter and forcing us to shoot 2’s. We excelled all season in winning the math game….last night we lost it. Sense of urgency defensively and shooting variance, this is why we lost however we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities to affect the latter. We move on.

Honest question....didn't it seem like that was Mazzulla's plan?

It looked like they were inviting everyone to shoot 3's (with the exception of Herro, I think that was poor defense). JB and Jrue's post game quotes seemed to indicate it was the plan too.

 

[jarules1185]

I had no idea the View Askewniverse included the Celtics now.....I always thought he was a hockey fan and rooted for the Devils

Fixing from Silent Bob. Would delete this message if i could.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Well, someone did post in this thread earlier that the Heat shot 41.3% on wide-open threes this season. Which changes the math to 3 * .413 = 1.24 points per shot, which is meaningful.

I don't think the Cs meant to leave Heat shooters wide open - they just didn't execute close outs. I think the gamble was that Jaquez and Martin etc weren't going to do what they did which was have a historic shooting night.

Again looking forward I expect the Cs to tweak this. If Bam is scoring every time down the floor because KP can't stay with him - and Porzingis is useless against Adebayo - the Cs do kind of have to stop him. You cannot give Herro or Robinson clean looks of course but I am ok with them betting on a Jaquez or someone like that reverting to the mean. For this matchup, Martin should be defended like those two as well going forward. You all can keep shading him but he is a good annoying player who seems to have another gear. They need to respect him going forward imo.

 

[jezza1918]

I had no idea the View Askewniverse included the Celtics now.....I always thought he was a hockey fan and rooted for the Devils

Let's just hope we all aren't here on the morning of game 7 in a couple weeks all screaming...

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Honest question....didn't it seem like that was Mazzulla's plan?

It looked like they were inviting everyone to shoot 3's (with the exception of Herro, I think that was poor defense). JB and Jrue's post game quotes seemed to indicate it was the plan too.

I’m not privy to the gameplan but I do recognize what a February approach looks like compared to a late April one. I don’t think Joe asked for his team to play with February-like intensity on both ends of the floor. It was the little things that I noticed….things like a lazy routine entry pass by Jrue which was a direct pass that KP couldn’t handle that led to a turnover in the 4Q rather than the correct bounce pass into the post. This was only one of many examples.

Oh and I miss garbage time Pritchard. Playoff Pritchard is still a 9th man.

 

[benhogan]

For those asking why the Cs would choose to help on Bam vs staying with the perimeter shooters, really simple math might explain it.

If Bam is shooting 55% or better (this series) and the Cs think the devil's brew of Martin, Jaquez and Highsmith aren't likely to be better than league average - and that's a fair bet regardless of SVG's propaganda on the broadcast - the math makes sense.

2 x .55 = 1.10
3 x .366 = 1.098

I am not saying this is why Boston lost or even that it is a good strategy - it just explains what we saw in the game.

If Bam is eating, the Cs have a problem in this series. I would expect one G3 adjustment to be a tweak of the overall strategy to contain him.

edit: whoops...what @jarules1185 said

 

[Cellar-Door]

View: https://twitter.com/SethPartnow/status/1783497418077528259


So Partnow did the math and film work, the 15-23 on wide open had an expected result of 8-23 or 9-23. That tells me that the wide open were almost all guys you want shooting.

Basically between 18 and 21 points differential from expectation. To me that says the "open" 3s was probably more of a problem, because that was poor closeouts more than strategy.

Edit- so this overperformance happened 31 out of 2,460 shooting performances in the regular season.

 

[Tudor Fever]

It seems to me that if you make two trade deadline acquisitions who are renowned defensive specialists, then they shouldn’t both be DNP-CDs when the other team is white hot from three.

 

[Auger34]

I’m not privy to the gameplan but I do recognize what a February approach looks like compared to a late April one. I don’t think Joe asked for his team to play with February-like intensity on both ends of the floor. It was the little things that I noticed….things like a lazy routine entry pass by Jrue which was a direct pass that KP couldn’t handle that led to a turnover in the 4Q rather than the correct bounce pass into the post. This was only one of many examples.

Oh and I miss garbage time Pritchard. Playoff Pritchard is still a 9th man.

Great call out on the entry passes. They were putrid and/or tremendously dumb all game.

I think I counted at least 6 of them (Brown had one, Tatum had 2 or 3, Holiday had one or two, same with White).

In the end, I think this is all hand wringing and the C's win the next 3. I don't expect Holiday and Porzingis to be that bad again for a little while

 

[Auger34]

It seems to me that if you make two trade deadline acquisitions who are renowned defensive specialists, then they shouldn’t both be DNP-CDs when the other team is white hot from three.

Springer shouldn't be anywhere near the court in a playoff game where the margin is less than 50.

I expect Tillman will get 5-10 minues in Game 3

 

[Tony C]

Check the game thread. Lots of posts like that.

Kind of like Vegas, what happens in a game thread should stay in the game thread. The less cross-pollination the better.

Btw, what was up with the fans? At least through the TV it seemed very quiet down the stretch ("stunned silence"?) and then people streaming out when it was still (barely, but still) a game with a minute or so to go was weird. As the announcer, SVG I think, said: didn't they watch the Knicks-Sixers game?

 

[benhogan]

We should win tomorrow in a rout with Miami having won an elimination game only 36 hours prior plus todays travel then a 1pm start….while we have been setting our circadian clocks with hard practices set at or around this start time. The tricky game is a G2 letdown off a big and probably easy win but without Butler the Heat are likely to be more annoying by sticking around. If they don’t steal G2 this should be a sweep.

Good call, you had G2 circled before this series even started.

Hopefully, you profited from both prescient calls

 

[RedOctober3829]

What gets me frustrated is that the game plan should have been to be overly aggressive in running the Heat off the 3 point line. Them getting hot from 3 is the only way they can make this a series. Why are they late in getting out to their shooters? Who gives a shit if Bam goes for 40? That isn't going to beat you. Letting Herro, Martin, Robinson, Wright get hot and burying 3's IS going to beat you combined with Bam playing well. We've seen this movie before with these guys shooting better against the Celtics than what the numbers indicate they may.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Good call, you had G2 circled before this series even started.

Hopefully, you profited from both prescient calls

Yes, the Celtics G1/Miami G2 plays worked out perfectly as simple preparation and adjustment angles. Just wish we won G2 by 1 to 14 points.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Kind of like Vegas, what happens in a game thread should stay in the game thread. The less cross-pollination the better.

Btw, what was up with the fans? At least through the TV it seemed very quiet down the stretch ("stunned silence"?) and then people streaming out when it was still (barely, but still) a game with a minute or so to go was weird. As the announcer, SVG I think, said: didn't they watch the Knicks-Sixers game?

Nobody was posting anything from the gamethread. I was commenting on KOCs gamethready Tweet and apparently was unclear. Other posters were like the Heat and smelled blood for a pile on. Its over unless we all need more messageboard navel gazing (the worst kind).

 

[HomeRunBaker]

What gets me frustrated is that the game plan should have been to be overly aggressive in running the Heat off the 3 point line. Them getting hot from 3 is the only way they can make this a series. Why are they late in getting out to their shooters? Who gives a shit if Bam goes for 40? That isn't going to beat you. Letting Herro, Martin, Robinson, Wright get hot and burying 3's IS going to beat you combined with Bam playing well. We've seen this movie before with these guys shooting better against the Celtics than what the numbers indicate they may.

I’d gather that this was the gameplan that was poorly executed and at times ignored by the players who didn’t take this Heat team seriously….which isn’t much different than many Celtics fans so this response is reasonable if not expected in that game coming off a thrashing for 3Q.

 

[Tony C]

What gets me frustrated is that the game plan should have been to be overly aggressive in running the Heat off the 3 point line. Them getting hot from 3 is the only way they can make this a series. Why are they late in getting out to their shooters? Who gives a shit if Bam goes for 40? That isn't going to beat you. Letting Herro, Martin, Robinson, Wright get hot and burying 3's IS going to beat you combined with Bam playing well. We've seen this movie before with these guys shooting better against the Celtics than what the numbers indicate they may.

Isn't the idea in analytics that defenses can have more impact on stopping easy 2s at the basket more than they can impact 3 point shooting? So, basically, cut off the hoop as best one can and -- except against the Curry et al true sharpshooters -- take your chances with the other team's 3 point shooting. And, from that vantage point, this game comes down to: "stick to the strategy and nothing one can do about random variance." That said, I did wonder late in the game about switching tactics once it was clear Heat shooters were mega-comfortable. For a long time the belief was that hot shooting streaks don't really exist, but I seem to recall reading there is now a sense in analytics that there's some reality to the traditional "hot hand" shooting theory. If so, even if the hot shooting was random variance, can argue that Joe should have adjusted by the 4th Q. Given some of the clear laziness on close-outs, though, can see the argument this was less about the coach and more about player complacency.

 

[benhogan]

Yes, the Celtics G1/Miami G2 plays worked out perfectly as simple preparation and adjustment angles. Just wish we won G2 by 1 to 14 points.

what is your G3 prognostication? Slog throughout the rest of the series?

expected adjustments on defense?

Miami playing with House$$$ is a hair more dangerous

 

[HomeRunBaker]

what is your G3 prognostication? Slog throughout the rest of the series?

expected adjustments on defense?

Miami playing with House$$$ is a hair more dangerous

Those were the two easy ones that I posted in my discord to play. I think Boston wins G3 in relatively close fashion. They shouldn't be 9 or 9.5 pt favorites imo though as this should be a close game like I'd guess most are in this series with the possible exception of G5 and G7 if our backs are against the wall.

 

[lexrageorge]

what is your G3 prognostication? Slog throughout the rest of the series?

expected adjustments on defense?

Miami playing with House$$$ is a hair more dangerous

Not a betting person, but I do think the Celtics are likely to win both in Miami, albeit closer than we would like. I do think the chance of a blowout win in Miami in at least one of the games is non-zero, in particular G4, as the talent gap tends to show itself as a series progresses.

 

[bosockboy]

Pretty accurate.

View: https://twitter.com/billsimmons/status/1783517033008930925?s=46

 

[RedOctober3829]

I’d gather that this was the gameplan that was poorly executed and at times ignored by the players who didn’t take this Heat team seriously….which isn’t much different than many Celtics fans so this response is reasonable if not expected in that game coming off a thrashing for 3Q.

Look no further than the college national title game for this evidence. Danny let Edey get his and locked down all the 3 point shooters.

Your point about the players is spot on IMO. When are they going to mature to the point where we don't have to worry about them doing this shit? I get it, this was never going to be a smooth ride. Losses happen. It's the way they lost this game. They did not take Miami seriously and they lit the Celtics up like they did last year. It's infuriating. This team is not young anymore. They're a bunch of veterans who have played a shit ton of playoff games. Grow up and take a business-like approach to every game.

 

[jarules1185]

Isn't the idea in analytics that defenses can have more impact on stopping easy 2s at the basket more than they can impact 3 point shooting? So, basically, cut off the hoop as best one can and -- except against the Curry et al true sharpshooters -- take your chances with the other team's 3 point shooting. And, from that vantage point, this game comes down to: "stick to the strategy and nothing one can do about random variance."

The current Heat are such an inferior team that their only path to winning this series - and it's incredibly slim - is through that random 3 point variance.

Sure, the Celtics don't control this variance, but they can create an environment that's less conducive to it. They have the defensive personnel to do that while also preventing Bam from going insane. Some of the issues last night were probably scheme, and some of it was player execution.

I think they're going to adjust scheme a little to stay home on shooters / close out more quickly (especially the on Heat's stronger ones), the players will probably execute better, and the series probably ends in 5. I don't think there's any lasting adjustment Spoelstra can make on offense to counter this given the personnel.

 

[Auger34]

Pretty accurate.

View: https://twitter.com/billsimmons/status/1783517033008930925?s=46

That's a great point by Simmons about hounding the ball handler. The Heat's point guard is....Jaquez? Herro? Get in their grill and make them get by you.

Of course, it's much harder to do this when you aren't scoring and can't set up your defense...

 

[RSN Diaspora]

Pretty accurate.

And a perfect example of why I tell people that much like Max Kellerman and boxing, Simmons can typically be ignored...unless he's talking about basketball or gambling.

The Celtics do need to fix this--the Heat never looked uncomfortable beyond the arc last night. It's good to see level-headed analysis of last night's shitshow--the game thread (as it did last night) typically breaks down into two camps: either "season over--this team sucks" or Kevin-Bacon-in-Animal-House-esque "All is well!" delusions.

 

[teddykgb]

Kind of misses what makes the Celtics D good, though. IMO we don’t have many or maybe even any guys who are just ridiculously laterally quick and can play shut down on ball defense where a guy just can’t put the ball on the floor in front of you without risking it. The Celtics defense is good because everyone is long and they switch nearly everything which takes away a lot of the mismatch game and then all that length can collapse to close driving lanes and block shots. One of the bigger disappointments for me has been that Jrue doesn’t seem to be that guy anymore (or maybe we don’t ask him to) who will just go wreck a ball handler’s day by being up in him and knowing he won’t get by him.

In essence I think our defensive strength is and always has been versatility more than shut down ability. In the case of last night it seemed like we kept losing individual battles and were too spread to play effective help defense. I can’t say I saw what, if anything, Miami changed but I’m inclined to believe they found a way to space us more than we’d like which caused us to scramble a lot more than normal and our defensive play like most NBA teams is really about help and connectivity and we were always a step or two too far last night

 

[bigq]

That's a great point by Simmons about hounding the ball handler. The Heat's point guard is....Jaquez? Herro? Get in their grill and make them get by you.

Of course, it's much harder to do this when you aren't scoring and can't set up your defense...

Not just hounding the ball handler when on defense but also the Celtics guards should be pushing the ball up the court with urgency on offense. Too often last night White and Holiday were slow jogging the ball up the court and letting Miami get set in their defense. JB and JT did the same. I was yelling at them to push the pace but I guess they couldn't hear me.

 

[PedroKsBambino]

To me the primary problem was the lack of pace and movement on offense---they let themselves be turned into a one-on-one team, and Miami is more effective that way defensively AND benefitted from an awful KP game.

That is not to say the defense was great, but Miami hit a lot of threes that were not all open/uncontested. I doubt we see that again at quite the same level I do agree with SImmons - lack of ball pressure defensively was bad. Felt like Celtics theory on D was "don't let them get into paint" and that backfired in that it let Miami get a ton of good looks outside, which as we know count more (math!)

 

[NomarsFool]

On an unrelated note to the recent discussion, that play where Herro intentionally jumped into KP while bringing Herro was bringing the ball up the floor to try and draw a foul (I guess) was something that I feel like the league should look at. That's totally garbage, and should have no place in the NBA.