We haven’t seen it as much this season, but in a slowed down, drag out playoff-like atmosphere against the Bucks on Sunday afternoon, the Celtics flexed their mismatch-hunting muscle in Milwaukee.
As CelticsBlog’s Oliver Fox pointed out yesterday, what really makes Boston’s D so good is Jrue Holiday’s ability to guard anyone (and conversely, what makes Milwaukee’s job so difficult is hiding Damian Lillard on defense). That’ll be the crux if these two teams meet in the NBA Playoffs next spring.
Here’s the basic design of Boston’s approach to stopping Lillard and Antetokounmpo: Jaylen Brown on Dame, Jrue on Giannis, and Jayson Tatum on either Brook Lopez or Bobby Portis. Below, you can even see Holiday and Horford making the switch before the inbound pass. If Antetokounmpo is starting above the break, they want Holiday handling his freakiness as the point-of-attack defender.
Here’s the best example of what makes that trio so deadly against the Bucks.
Brown hounds Lillard from beyond half court, reminiscent of his MVP performance checking Luka Doncic in the Finals last June. Brown had been already dominating Dame on offense and Dame doesn’t want any part of Brown with the ball in his hand, so he gives it to Giannis to initiate the offense.
Antetokounmpo dumps it to Lopez with ten seconds already burned off the shot clock. Brown and Holiday switch covers on an off ball screen between Antetokounmpo and Lillard, but by then they’re already in panic mode without ever creating an advantage in the possession. Tatum jumps the pass and eventually forces a shot clock violation.
Switchable on all three fronts with two other switchable defenders in Horford and Derrick White, it’s difficult for opposing teams to attack any one specific player. Let’s talk the other side of the ball.
Last week, head coach Doc Rivers replaced Gary Trent Jr. in the starting lineup in favor of a Andre Jackson Jr. in part so that teams couldn’t target both Lillard and Trent Jr. on defense. That still leaves Dame on an island with an ice skate and a volleyball.
Whether 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 mentioned in yesterday’s Ten Takeaways:
In the closing minutes, the Celtics focused on exploiting Lillard’s defensive weaknesses. When he switched onto Tatum or Jaylen, they attacked immediately.
Lillard’s presence boosted Boston’s offensive rating to 123, up from their average of 115—likely due to Lillard’s defensive shortcomings
And it wasn’t just Lillard. Part of Doc’s plan is to surround his two best players with shooters. That’s usually some combination of Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, and Pat Connaughton. Neither of those guys can handle the Jays either.
The flurry of three-pointers that the Celtics get up every night steal the headlines for Mazzulla Ball, but Joe is also a master tactician with a jiu jitsui mindset and that martial art is all about leverage and pressure points.
