The Celtics' Dropped The Ball...Well, The Game
Now they need to adjust
Boston didn’t just have an off night from deep — they played directly into a trap the Philadelphia 76ers have been setting all season.
One thing the Sixers have done well this season is bait opponents into high-volume three-point shooting. They’re comfortable giving those looks up.
We looked at this when I wrote the potential series preview last week.
“One thing Nurse’s team does well is bait teams into taking a high volume of threes per game. That’s why they rank 20th in the NBA for defensive three-point frequency. They’re fine with letting you get your shots up because they know they can impact them at a good-enough rate for it to be an effective strategy.”
Last night, the Celtics leaned into the exact shot profile Philly wanted, and never meaningfully adjusted as the game wore on.
Nevertheless, when speaking with the media after the game, Mazzulla quantified the discussion points surrounding Boston’s poor shooting as the “low-hanging fruit.”
I tend to agree.
The fact is that Boston fell into the Sixers trap.
The problem is that a poor shooting night was compounded by the Celtics getting caught in their own tactical adjustments. Their switch to a deep drop coverage backfired, and the follow-up counters didn’t solve it in real time.
This clip was arguably the first sign of things to come. The fact that VJ Edgecombe essentially walked into a mid-range shot with limited resistance is wild to me.
Credit to Adem Bona. His screen took Sam Hauser out of the action. Neemias Queta was in drop, playing just off the level of the screen, while Derrick White was in position to help at the nail.
With Hauser unable to fight through, Edgecombe gets downhill, putting Neemy under pressure to contain the drive. Ideally, White applies pressure as Edgecombe reaches the elbow — a dig, a swipe, even a good ol’ quick blitz.
Instead, he kind of just…stands there. He’s a passenger on the play.
In a sense, this is what I imagine Nate Duncan was getting at. Drop coverage — especially when it’s deep — is exploitable, particularly in the postseason.
The best way to make it more effective is to run a “cover system” higher on the floor. Think of game 1, and how Boston had two guys pinching on penetration. Neemy was still dropping on those plays; he just had a defensive safety blanket in front of him.
