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#1 Beginning large
With Jrue Vacation sitting out as a consequence of an elbow sprain, the Boston Celtics ran with a double-big lineup. Jaylen Brown shifted to the two, and Jayson Tatum slid right down to the three. Going in opposition to a San Antonio Spurs crew that boasts Victor Wembanyama, throwing out some extra measurement within the beginning unit made sense.
Each Horford and Porzingis are able to guarding on the perimeter together with defending screening actions in a number of coverages, which is required when attempting to restrict versatile large males like Wembanyama. The larger query is, would Joe Mazzulla have nonetheless gone double-big if Vacation had been obtainable?
#2 Wow, Wemby
We’ve all seen Wembanyama play at this level. Most of us have most likely seen a few his video games or at the very least some spotlight reels. Nonetheless, watching him do his factor in opposition to a crew we watch a number of instances per week helped put his uniqueness in perspective. There have been stretches the place it felt just like the Celtics have been looking for solutions on how finest to protect him.
I imply, how do you guard moments like this?
As he will get extra accustomed to the NBA sport, provides energy, and the sport begins to decelerate, there could possibly be some critical battles between Wembanyama and the Celtics. You would see how Tatum and Brown elevated their video games because the Spurs rookie started to make an affect. He introduced out the most effective in them.
#3 Time for Tatum to begin ramping up
It’s that point. For almost all of his profession, Tatum has begun elevating his sport round January and February. It appears to be like like Wembanyama might have sparked one thing in him, too. Tatum ended the sport with 25 factors, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and a couple of blocks. Extra importantly, he dropped 5-of-10 from deep.
Tatum has been struggling together with his perimeter soar shot over the previous few weeks. Nonetheless, these struggles have been firmly put behind him on Sunday evening. Nonetheless, there will likely be sterner assessments forward. There may also be an even bigger want for his playmaking potential, too.
Nonetheless, this was a great efficiency from Tatum, particularly when he was working as an off-ball menace and firing away off the catch, attacking the put up, or driving the lane to assault gaps. Nonetheless, I believe my favourite possession was a large pick-and-pop between Tatum and Payton Prtichard that ended with a no-dribble mid-range pull-up.
Oh, and right here’s an amazing clip of Tatum being a screener and making an affect. Massive fan of Tatum in these performs, and I like how a lot house he created by tying up the defender.
#4 Porzingis struggles
Robust evening for Kristaps Porzingis. The field rating will inform you he took seven threes. A type of was a full-court heavy on the finish of the primary half; we will exclude that one. So, he took six perimeter jumpers. One was an air ball; 4 hit the entrance rim, and one hit the again rim.
Often, when a constant shooter begins hitting the entrance rim, it’s an indication that they’re drained. They’re not getting the identical carry on their photographs, which suggests not sufficient energy is coming from their legs. Then, they attempt to course right with utilizing extra higher physique energy, which results in a back-rim miss.
We’ll by no means know if Porzingis had drained legs or a nagging tweak in his calves or quads. Or, we all know, is that it wasn’t his evening, and that’s okay. He nonetheless made an affect on the glass and secured two blocks when defending the rim. Oh, and for essentially the most half, he dealt with the duty of guarding Wembanyama nicely.
Porzingis could have higher capturing nights; that’s inevitable. Nonetheless, we will’t ignore how his presence above the break on offense pulled Wembanyama out of the paint and allowed the Celtics to seek out lanes to the basket.
This little two-man motion between Brown and Porzingis, the place Brown curls into the paint earlier than drawing a foul, is indicative of how the Unicorn’s presence ensured Wembanyama’s rim safety wasn’t a constant issue on the evening.
#5 Gettin nerdy with it: Horns actions for Derrick white
I like Horns’ actions. They’re easy. They’re efficient. And there’s a ton of variations you possibly can run with them. Boston went to some horns units halfway by way of the primary quarter, placing Porzingis and Luke Kornet because the screeners and giving Derrick White choices on how you can exploit the protection.
As we all know, White likes to go proper when utilizing a display screen. As such, the Celtics ran a few horns units that resulted in a White-Kornet decide and roll, main to 2 buckets for the backup large man, and displaying why White’s versatility is such a bonus for this Celtics crew.
This primary motion noticed Kornet get an uncontested roll to the rim. The assistance protection was a beat late, and nobody was there to tag the roll. So, White managed to get the straightforward entry move into the massive man, and the end across the rim rapidly adopted.
Identical motion, related consequence. Nonetheless, this time, the possession ends in a lob play for Kornet. Boston additionally ran this identical motion within the very subsequent possession, however the Spurs had adjusted and blew up the lob move. By no means thoughts, they nonetheless received a fast 4 factors out of it and had one thing they might return to later within the sport in the event that they have been in a pinch — spoiler, they didn’t must.
#6 Locking it down earlier than the half
Within the remaining couple of minutes of the second quarter, the Celtics upped their defensive stress. We’ve seen them do that on numerous events. Stifle the offense. Ship them into the locker room at half-time, feeling deflated and questioning the place their factors are going to return from. It’s an influence transfer.
Within the above clip, the Celtics take away the center of the ground. Each time the Spurs look to penetrate and get into the paint, the Celtics sink in and stress the ball-handler or the cutter. As such, the Spurs are compelled to accept a closely-contested elbow jumper late within the clock.
Right here, the Celtics do an amazing job of defending the Spurs’ movement offense. They shut down a zipper minimize, rotate out to shooters, sink to clog passing lanes and kill rotations, and power a late shot-clock try. The actual fact Boston can activate this degree of protection at any time when they need is wild.
#7 Turning up the stress
Okay, so that you demoralized a crew with stifling protection earlier than half-time. So, what do you do when the third quarter begins? You dominate the offensive finish to claim your general dominance.
The Celtics dropped 40 factors within the third quarter. Each Tatum and Brown have been in double-digits. Additionally they secured 16 rebounds, with six of them approaching the offensive boards. Nonetheless, it was Brown’s efficiency that basically stole the present…
#8 The unstoppable Jaylen Brown
16 of Brown’s 24 factors got here within the third. But, it wasn’t what number of factors he scored. As a substitute, it’s how he was scoring them. He had two made threes, two made mid-range jumpers, and 5 made buckets across the rim. We had fadeaways, layups, catch-and-shoot jumpers, and these two superior dunks.
I’m operating out of the way to say how good Brown is and the way that is the most effective stretch of basketball we’ve ever seen from him. The scary factor? It appears like he nonetheless has one other degree he can go to on either side of the ground. To make this large of a leap in his eighth season and nonetheless have room to develop is unbelievable. I like the flexibility he brings on offense and the physicality he’s added to his inside sport.
#9 That Queta block
What extra can I say? Oh yeah, that block was splendid.
#10 Payton Pritchard, dime-dropper
Pritchard has been having fun with a stable stretch of basketball these days. He’s capturing 38.1% from deep on the season and will maintain seeing that share rise within the coming months. Nonetheless, what I favored most about his efficiency in opposition to the Spurs was his playmaking. He ended the sport with a game-leading seven dimes to his title.
Fast choices just like the one within the clip above allowed Pritchard to get downhill at tempo and make the proper learn. He’s additionally displaying stable physique management on his dribble; within the under clip, he places his defender “in jail” which is a elaborate method of claiming he sealed them on the again of his hips to guard the dribble earlier than discovering Kornet for the lob play.
Pritchard’s gradual begin to the season is firmly behind him. He’s making an impression on either side of the ground and is rising in affect — particularly as a small screener and ball-handler.
A fast message
Glad New Yr to everybody taking the time to learn at this time’s takeaways. I hope you all had an pleasant New Yr’s Eve and are wanting ahead to an thrilling 12 months — each by way of basketball and no matter your particular person targets are for 2024.
For those who missed it yesterday, I started making a glossary of phrases used within the Takeaways, full with a supporting video. I’ll proceed so as to add to this wherever attainable, so don’t be shy in requesting additions within the feedback sections or by capturing me a DM on Twitter (nicely, X.)
The Celtics have a troublesome sport in opposition to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder on Tuesday. That’s going to be a enjoyable one and one other take a look at for this ever-impressive crew. So, I’ll catch you all once more on Wednesday after we dive into what’s hopefully one other win.
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