Total Meltdown

This series should be over

In no world did I envision the Boston Celtics’ first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks going six games, yet here we are. This Celtics team has developed an uncanny knack for shooting themselves in the foot at the most inopportune time.

It’s not even like the Celtics shit the bed for the entire fourth quarter; they just folded in the final stretch, breathing life into a Hawks team that was missing their second-best player in Dejounte Murray.

I mean this with no disrespect to the New York Knicks, but under no circumstances should they be in a similar position to the Celtics when their competition is Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Celtics, after all, are supposed to be the Eastern Conference favorites.

Of course, a loss like this doesn’t happen without some missteps, and in this instance, there is plenty of blame to go around. Let’s go through some of the issues we saw.

Coaching Decisions

Is Joe Mazzulla an elite coach? A good coach? Or a bad coach that lucked into an incredibly talented team? Quite frankly, the jury is still out on that one, but he continues to do himself no favors.

During the early part of the season, I thoroughly enjoyed Mazzulla’s offensive system and how his style liberated the offensive potency of this current roster. Yet, as the season has worn on and teams have begun to adjust to Boston’s style of play, the lack of creativity has been jarring. As this newsletter continues, we will have plenty of time to look at the Xs and O’s, and there will be some ‘plays of the day’ a little later in this newsletter. But for now, let’s focus on the most perplexing decision.

Why isn’t Grant Williams getting minutes?

I’ve got to know. What is happening with Grant Williams right now? As I wrote about for CelticsBlog yesterday, Al Horford is being hunted by Trae Young and the Hawks on the perimeter. Mazzulla has countered by placing Horford into drop coverage, allowing Young to feast on the mid-range space that adjustment has made.

Williams, for all jaw-jabbering flaws, is a versatile defender who can navigate screens and stay in front of pesky guards while back-peddling. Surely, he could help spell some minutes for Horford when Young is picking the team off with floater after floater?

This is the game flow from last night’s game. The first number in each bar shows points scored by the player, while the second number is a tally of rebounds and assists. Right now, my focus is on the production of Sam Hauser and, to a lesser extent Blake Griffin.

I’m not one to focus on the box score; players can make a significant impact without it showing up on the stat sheet. Be it screening, spacing, cutting, or defending at a high level, there is so much more than points, rebounds, assists, and blocks. Yet, for the life of me, I can’t fathom why Hauser, a single-skill sharpshooter, has ousted Williams in the opening round of the playoffs.

I get it, Mazzulla loves threes. Hauser entices teams to abandon their offensive plan and hunt him on mismatches. And most importantly, Hauser doesn’t get into ridiculous arguments with the refs each and every game. But for all of his flaws, Williams is the better player. Screening actions flow better with Williams involved. He provides an additional hand-off threat when running perimeter-based actions, has improved his ability to attack close-outs off the dribble (especially on baseline drives), can operate in the post, and defensively is as switchable as tweeners come.

Furthermore, it’s not like Williams’ doesn’t give you the floor spacing you get from playing Hauser. Sure, he’s not the movement shooter that Hauser is, but considering most of the available threes are coming off the catch, that shouldn’t be a problem in this series.

We did see Williams get an opportunity in game three, and he provided an all-action display, knocking down his shots, defending his ass off, and making a genuine impact. So, why, praytell, has he been glued to the bench? I’m not going to sit here and speculate a reason, no matter how much I want to. But, I will say that sitting Williams is one of the more perplexing decisions Mazzulla has made of late.

As an aside, I will note that I understood the reasoning to go with Hauser to begin the series. Williams has struggled since the All-Star break, and you want to tempt the Hawks into targeting Hauser on mismatches. Yet the impact has been negligible, and now, going with the more experienced, more impactful Williams should be an adjustment that’s already been made.

Tatum’s Struggles

Scrolling through social media this morning, there is a bunch of talk about Jayson Tatum being ‘soft.’ Personally, I hate this narrative and find it to be a toxic mentality, regardless of if we’re speaking strictly in a sports narrative. Furthermore, you don’t make it to the pinnacle of your profession by being ‘soft.’

However, Tatum is not beyond reproach, but there does need to be some nuance to the discussion.

Yes, in a game where the Celtics needed their star player to step up and lead them to a win, he struggled. Yes, Tatum was passive on offense and looked to defer when possible. And yes, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Tatum look disjointed when an opponent ramps up their defensive pressure.

All of those arguments are true. All of those arguments are fair. But let’s peel a layer off of this.

In the first quarter, Tatum went 1-of-6 from the field, earning one trip to the line, where he sank both free throws. In the second quarter, he went 2-of-5. It was clear, at least in the first half, that Tatum’s shot wasn’t there. Should he have forced the issue a little bit more by getting downhill and attacking the rim? Probably. Did he shoot the Celtics out of the game? No.

Rather than jacking up shot after shot, Tatum switched gears and began to facilitate for his teammates. He became an offensive metronome for his team and allowed others around him to flourish. We’ve been asking for that version of Tatum. For a version where if the shots aren’t falling, he can still make a positive contribution to a game.

Still, two points in the final quarter, where the Hawks are surging and need the wind taken out of their sails, is inexcusable for a player who, just a few months ago, was being discussed as an MVP candidate. Perhaps Tatum was guilty of taking a back seat as Jaylen Brown surged, or perhaps the Hawks just had his number?

Regardless of the reasons, the Celtics are at their best when Tatum is at his best, and to struggle this badly on your home court in a close-out game will surely sting for him. Even just an average performance from Tatum could have been a swing factor on Tuesday night; instead, we add another goose egg to his playoff resume.

Al Horford vs. Trae Young

I touched on this issue when discussing Grant Williams’ exclusion from the rotation, so I’ll be brief here.

Atlanta LOVES the Trae Young/Al Horford matchup — they’re hunting it whenever they see the veteran big man guarding up-to-touch or at the level of a screen, and Trae is feasting on those mismatches. Of course, Mazzulla has done what any coach would do, pull Horford away from the perimeter and tasked him with protecting the rim in drop coverage.

The downside here is that with Horford in drop, the Celtics are only switching 1-through-4, which takes away some of their intensity when guarding screening actions, regardless of how much they alter their pick-up points. Furthermore, the space that is being left around the free throw line is inviting Young to snake his dribbles off a screen and attack with floaters and runners — and it’s working.

Of course, the Celtics have, at times, tried to counter this with some peel-switching to send two at Young when he’s in the mid-range, but it’s a risky strategy that can’t be a staple of their defensive scheme.

Here is an example of Boston peel-switching onto Young. As he snakes his dribble off the screen and into the mid-range, Jaylen Brown peels off his man to pick up Young. Marcus Smart fills Brown’s role guarding on the perimeter while Horford rotates over to tag the roll of Onyeka Okongwu. The defensive possession ends in a foul, but it’s clear that Brown’s rotation flustered Young and limited his opportunity for an easy bucket in space.

The downside with this type of coverage is that everybody needs to be on the same page. Rotations have to happen in unison, while it would be irresponsible to peel off if it meant you were creating a mismatch of your own doing. Yet, peel-switching is currently one of the most prevalent forms of switching in the NBA, so there’s definitely a significant upside when executed properly.

Play’s of the day

Today’s newsletter has focused on a lot of the ‘bad’ from last night’s game, so, I want to use this section to focus on some of the ‘good’. Let’s take a look at a few clips!

Derrick White's off-ball movement

Derrick White has been on a tear over the last few weeks, so plays like this shouldn’t come as a surprise. A nice little two-man game between White and Jayson Tatum sets this action in motion. White hits the entry pass, ‘L-Cuts’ into the paint, draws the weakside defender and then hits Jaylen Brown for the open three.

Since the playoffs began, 47% of White’s offense is coming between the rim and the free-throw line, so it makes sense that the defense would react to the threat of him getting to the rim. Unfortunately for Atlanta, White is a willing and capable passer, which allows Brown to benefit from a well-timed, well-placed chest pass.

Team defense ended with an Al Horford block

Al Horford’s impact on the offensive end may have been minimal, but with five blocks, it’s clear that he made his presence felt when protecting the rim. The above possession shows some sturdy perimeter defense, with both Tatum and White switching the screening action to nullify any advantage the Hawks were looking to create.

For reference, the screening action Atlanta is running here is called ‘Ricky’ — a screen where the screen receiver cuts off the screen before turning around and running his defender back into a re-screen.

It’s the re-screen that sets Onyeka Okongwu free, as he recognizes Tatum and White are both playing at the level, so slips into the space behind them. Al Horford notices the evolution of the action and rotates over to tag the roll and then guard Okongwu once he receives the entry pass.

The possession ends in a nice block.

More Al Horford goodness

Can I just remind you that Al Horford is 36 years old!? This play doesn’t need much of a breakdown. However, we can all appreciate the swing play here, blocking a shot on one end, bringing the ball upcourt, and then registering the assist on a three. Veteran savvy at its finest. Against his former team, no less.

Marcus Smart, Inverted Screening

If you follow my work on CelticsBlog, you will be familiar with my coverage of inverted screens. If not, my latest piece on them is here. An inverted screen is when a smaller player screens for a bigger play - Smart for Brown in this instance.

In this possession, Smart and Brown run an empty corner pick-and-roll, with Smart flaring into the space after setting the screen and then getting downhill for the floater. Nice read, nice finish, nice play.

I’ll have more for you tomorrow :)

Notable News

Stephen Silas in Boston, a potential Assistant coach?

According to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, recently fired Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas was present at the Celtics practice session yesterday. Currently, the Celtics are short-staffed on their bench, as Will Hardy left for Utah before the season, and Damon Stoudamire recently took a head coaching gig at Georgia Tech University.

Given Silas’ history as a successful assistant coach and Boston’s need for some fresh voices within their staff, it will be interesting to see whether Silas joins up with Mazzulla’s coaching team next season — which is something Mannix alluded to.

And for any of you who are concerned with his poor coaching record during his tenure with the Rockets (59-177), you can take solace in the fact that he was dealt a tough hand given Houston’s rebuild and their lack of top-tier talent. Adding another voice with NBA head coaching experience could be vital for the Celtics’ continued development, and Silas fits the bill perfectly.

Did Jaylen Brown call out Joe Mazzulla?

During his post-game press conference, Jaylen Brown discussed how the Celtics need to be better (we’ve heard that before,) yet rather than just focusing on the players, he also mentioned the coaching staff — even dropping a hint regarding Mazzulla’s lack of timeout calls.

“We pride ourselves as players (making) the right play & adjustments,” Brown said. “At times, we leave that up to the coaches to make that decision...We gotta be better overall as a team, coaching staff, & players on getting organized in those moments, whether we call timeouts or not."

With 16 seconds remaining in the game, Mazzulla had two timeouts left in his pocket, yet chose not to use one until the dying moments of the game. For the entire season, questions have been raised over Mazzulla’s reluctance to call timeouts, and it would appear he hasn’t changed his philosophy at all, much to the chagrin of the fanbase.

Today’s podcast.

For those of you that are new here, I equate to one-third of the Green With Envy podcast, proud partners of BlueWire and CelticsBlog. Earlier today, Will Weir and I got together to have an on-air therapy session regarding last night’s loss, and you catch watch that below.

That’s it for today! Apologies for being late on getting this out; wanted to wait for the NBA website to update with clips so that I could use a few of them in today’s edition.

See y’all tomorrow!