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Game notes & observations
- The Miami Heat figured out how to guard Boston’s short-roll offense. They sent help early, pressured the roll man and either forced an early turnover, forced ther roller into a deeper roll and pressured the pass or killed the action and made Boston reset with the clock ticking down.
Here’s the Heat picking a pass to the short-roller
Tyler Herro does a great job of ‘fronting’ on Jayson Tatum, killing any potential entry pass off the bounce. Bam Adebayo then helps out of the strong-side corner, timing the pass and plucking it out of Tatum’s hands. Solid defensive play from Miami. The Heat stuck with this coverage throughout the game.
Below, is a different form of Miami’s PnR defense. This time they send a crowd at Tatum early, forcing him to penetrate and look for a passing angle. Tatum is usually great at making reads out of traps, but with Herro in the rearview, he was pressured into putting the ball on the floor and making a a move.
Again, the Heat sent help from the strong-side corner. Herro is pressuring in the rearview. Suddenly, Tatum has three bodies walling up on him, cutting down angles. They took away his pass to the corner and his pass to Neemy. The only legitimate option is to escape dribble and swing to the second side. I’d like to see the Celtics make better use of the full 24 seconds in situations like this.
The Heat lack any significant offensive punch. Tyler Herro can be subdued and attacked on defense. Jaime Jaquez is still developing. Duncan Robinson and Bam Adebayo are both capable scorers but aren’t someone you build an offense around as a featured scorer.
Miami missed Jimmy Butler. More importantly, they need to make some changes.
Jordan Walsh let his second career start pass him by. He was essentially invisible throughout the game. Took only one shot. He didn’t step into a primary point-of-attack defensive role and generally vanished for the majority of his minutes.
Considering his strong preseason and some encouraging performances earlier in the campaign, I was hoping for more from him. Of course, that doesn’t mean the Celtics should cut ties with him or anything. It just stuck out to me as a wasted opportunity. He can’t afford to stack too many of those together, not on a roster this talented and this deep.
We’re starting to see signs of an improving defense from the Celtics. Take the below dig from Jaylen Brown as an example. Sometimes, it’s about doing the small, and often simple thing, well.
Brown’s dig toward Jaquez’s dribbling hand forces him to stop his drive and pick up the ball. It also allows Walsh to get a better defensive position and for Luke Kornet to recover to his man. Jaquez settles for a difficult jumper with the shot clock ticking down.
We’re seeing more and more subtle improvements to the defensive gameplan as the days and weeks progress. It won’t be long until the Celtics' defense operates at a level similar to what we saw last season. Commitment to the little details, like this play, are what will help get the team there.
Talking of Brown, he was solid. He’s always at his best when being aggressive on the offensive end and pressuring the rim. There are times when I would prefer him to make a pass, but i’m not the one on the court, facing down some of the best players in the world. 29 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists…can’t grumble about that production.
I pointed this out earlier in the season, too…Brown’s improvement in getting to the free-throw line and, more importantly, converting his looks from the line continues to be a subplot to the season that’s worth following.
