Midway there: 10 Takeaways from Celtics/Pacers

#1 Jaylen Brown on a heater

He may not be All-NBA, however he’s actually All-Motion. Jaylen Brown was the very best participant on the court docket because the Boston Celtics overcame the Indiana Pacers within the second sport of the Jap Convention finals.

Brown’s dominance was influenced by high-level protection, assertive decision-making on offense and a mid-range sport that countered overzealous on-ball defenders. For me, Brown might get into the paint at will, which helped cement him as Boston’s finest offensive weapon all through the sport.

It doesn’t matter if it is in transition or in a halfcourt set; when Brown determined he was attending to the basket, there wasn’t a lot the Pacers might do aside from feign resistance.

That is the model of Brown that dominated the opening quarters through the common season. It’s the model the Celtics want in the event that they’re going to hoist a championship banner on the finish of the playoffs. And it’s the model we’ve seen constantly sufficient that he ought to have been on an All-NBA group this season.

Brown ended the night time with 40 factors. 10 of his photographs got here contained in the perimeter. Between that scoring outburst and his defensive depth, it’s clear that his presence was a serious swing issue within the Celtics’ success.

#2 Maintaining Horford’s minutes down

Since Kristaps Porzingis’ harm towards the Miami Warmth, Al Horford’s minutes have been a good and legit matter of dialog. The veteran large man turns 38 in 9 days’ time. He has been coming off the Celtics bench for almost all of the season — for apparent causes.

As such, when Porzingis went down with an harm and Horford was pressured to step into the rotation, there have been considerations concerning the extra mileage that might be put onto his getting older physique. On Thursday, Joe Mazzulla did an excellent job of limiting Horford’s minutes.

The veteran middle noticed the ground for a complete of 24 minutes. That’s barely beneath what we’ve seen in latest weeks however is encouraging for 2 causes:

1. Horford dominated on the glass. His physicality and positioning had been each a difficulty for the Pacers, no matter whether or not he was combating for offensive of defensive rebounds.
2. The Celtics discovered methods to regulate the tempo of the sport when Horford wasn’t on the ground. That allowed him to fit into the rotation with out having a heavy burden on both facet of the court docket. We additionally noticed him change between drop protection and a switching system, as his legs had been just a little lighter because of the extra relaxation.

#3 Upping the depth

The Celtics managed the depth on this sport. They dictated the phrases of engagement on the defensive finish. In sport one, the Pacers swung the ball facet to facet and dictated the place and once they would get into their offense. Placing Myles Turner above the break was an enormous a part of their technique in Recreation 1.

Some slight matchup modifications by Joe Mazzulla (the place Brown began the sport guarding Turner, Horford was on Pascal Siakam and Tatum was on Aaron Nesmith) allowed the Celtics to set the phrases of engagement on the defensive finish.

They restricted — and pressured — Indiana’s rim makes an attempt, performed increased up on screens when guarding the perimeter and lived with their mid-range offense for many of the sport.

By having Brown on Turner, the Celtics might afford to sink just a little deeper on drives, primarily as a consequence of Brown’s athleticism and the way that might permit him to shut out faster or tag the roll. Watch how he performs Turner within the above clip. Additionally, I have no idea how the Celtics ship Hauser to dig at Siakam and the way White is ready to rotate over and supply some assist protection.

This was a distinct model of protection in comparison with what we noticed in Recreation 1.

This clip is the very subsequent offensive possession for the Pacers.

Turner is off the ground for this possession, placing Brown on Nesmith. Vacation and White are each guarding the low helpline and are tasked with defending the rim. Once more, Boston dictates the phrases of engagement. Brown doesn’t get suckered into attempting to cease TJ McConnell’s minimize, and Vacation positions himself to seal off the pesky guard.

As Isiah Jackson seems to power his manner towards the rim, White directs him towards the paint, the place he and Vacation present two our bodies and power the contested miss. As soon as once more, the Celtics have pressured the Pacers into taking photographs the place Boston is comfy defending and leaned into their versatility and assist protection to strain the discharge.

This was an enormous change from how the Celtics allowed themselves to get spaced out by Indiana within the opening sport and led to only 36 factors within the paint, versus the 56 scored in Recreation 1.

#4 Tatum wants to go away the perimeter alone

Tatum is now 21-of-79 from 3-point vary through the postseason. That’s a conversion charge of 26.6%. He’s fairing so much higher when driving to the basket or working within the mid-range. In Recreation 2 towards the Pacers, he went 1-for-7 from the perimeter.

I must take open photographs from deep. I get that taking pictures generates gravity. Nonetheless, it’s clear that proper now, Tatum has a case of the yips when taking pictures threes. It could be extra helpful for the Celtics if he continues to lean into his inside ending and mid-range jump-shooting reasonably than attempting to power himself out of a long-lasting stoop.

He can at all times return to the lab through the summer season and determine no matter it’s that has seen his perimeter jumper slide into obscurity. Making an attempt to repair that on the fly at this stage of the playoffs isn’t advisable, although.

If Tatum averages 25-30 factors per sport between now and when the Celtics hopefully win a championship, and people factors come across the rim, within the mid-range and on the free-throw line, then nobody might be complaining. There’s sufficient taking pictures on the Celtics roster for Tatum to step away from these photographs — not eternally, however at the least for proper now.

Simply take the open ones once they seem.

#5 Dragging it out

We’ve touched on this a number of occasions all through the season, however we are able to take one other fast look. The Celtics PnR offense is at its finest once they’re dragging out their dribble coming excessive of the display screen. Tatum has develop into elite at this, as has White.

By taking the extra dribbles, the ball-handler is dragging his defender with him. When a group is attempting to hedge or blitz the PnR, the ball-handler can manipulate area for the screener by dragging out his dribble across the perimeter.

As you possibly can see within the above clip, the Pacers ship two, with Tatum permitting Vacation to pop into area and shoot a wide-open three off the catch. Identical to with their protection, the Celtics bought again to what they do finest, and dragging out the PnR has been one thing they’ve excelled at this season.

Will probably be fascinating to see how the Pacers look to counter this as a result of in the event that they don’t ship two on the ball, the ball-handler can look to show the nook and assault off the drive.

#6 White finds his scoring contact

White can do all the pieces. We all know this. It’s not a shocking revelation. Nonetheless, when he provides the Celtics a scoring increase, he alters the outlook of their offense and infrequently generates extra buckets for his teammates because the protection overreacts and tries to restrict him from getting sizzling.

White ended the sport with 23 factors. He dropped 4 threes and hit 4 photographs contained in the perimeter. For me, it’s the inside buckets that assist cement the spacing. If White is hitting his threes however isn’t inflicting many points when driving, the protection can push up on him and power the rock out of his palms. But, on the nights when he’s punishing that tight protection by driving or slicing, he turns into tough to include.

Take this clip for example. White comes off the display screen and appears to pull it out. Indiana rapidly recovers to Tatum, leaving White with a one-on-one matchup. Slightly than look to get right into a step-back jumper or redirect the rock, White turns the nook, modifications tempo and will get to the rim.

Try this a few occasions, and immediately, the protection doesn’t need to push up when you could have the ball — however they will’t sag off, both, as you could have hit 4 threes. That’s when White is at his finest. And that’s the model the Celtics bought in Recreation 2.

#7 This model of Jrue is strictly what the Celtics wanted

Vacation has been electrical over the past 4 or 5 video games. He’s upped his aggression by a number of ranges. He’s attacking at will, taking part in bodily and embracing his function as a major point-of-attack defender.

Within the first two video games of this sequence, Vacation has 43 factors, 18 assists, 10 rebounds and three steals. He’s taking pictures 69.6% from the sector and 58.3% from 3-point vary.

As the one member of Boston’s roster who boasts an NBA championship on his resume, it’s encouraging to see Vacation up his manufacturing stage and embrace being a frontrunner on the group. Coming into the postseason, Vacation had a fame for regressing through the postseason. That narrative is rapidly being dispelled along with his present manufacturing and efficiency stage.

The hope is that this model of Vacation is right here to remain — at the least for the rest of the playoffs.

#8 Bris-setting the tone

The Celtics discovered themselves short-handed on the middle place with Luke Kornet taking place with a wrist harm. Slightly than leaning into Xavier Tillman, Joe Mazzulla despatched Oshae Brissett out onto the ground.

By going small, the Celtics might maintain tempo with Indiana in transition, they’d increased pick-up factors, they rotated faster, and Brissett’s power and physicality operated as a disruptor.

Brissett’s efficiency might even see him earn a job in the course of this sequence. His motion and power are extra logical additions off the bench, reasonably than Kornet’s dimension and restricted mobility in drop protection. You may also interchange Brissett and Tatum on the 5 when wanted and depend on Tatum’s rim safety and size to assist anchor the paint.

#9 Again to mismatch searching

Earlier than leaving the sport with a leg harm, Tyrese Haliburton was the Celtics’ major goal when searching mismatches. He was being put within the motion on each wings and was constantly pressured to protect in mismatched conditions.

Haliburton wasn’t the one one to get hunted. The Celtics additionally sought out Andrew Nembhard when doable, too. However, seeing Mazzulla’s group management the tempo of the sport and get into their inverted screening actions — together with another units — to create switches and generate simpler paths to scoring was encouraging.

The Celtics spent Recreation 1 taking part in Indiana basketball. In Recreation 2, Indiana spent the sport questioning how they’d discovered themselves being toyed with by a Celtics group that managed each facet of the competition. That is how the Celtics will dominate this sequence, and their means to constantly generate and assault mismatches will probably be an enormous half.

#10 Heading to Indiana

Two video games performed, two video games received. Now, the Celtics head to Indiana with an undefeated highway document within the postseason. The Pacers are a troublesome out on their dwelling flooring. We’ve already seen how resilient they are often, so think about what that’s like when their hometown followers are behind them.

An inexpensive expectation is for the Celtics to separate the following two video games and are available again to Boston to shut the sequence out. A dream state of affairs is that they full the sweep whereas on the highway. In fact, Haliburton’s harm standing will dictate how a lot resistance the Pacers are capable of present.

Trying forward

Boston is again in motion on Saturday. They might transfer to 3-0 on the sequence. Hopefully, Kornet is cleared to play or isn’t sidelined too lengthy. And, who is aware of, possibly Porzingis will make his return to the rotation through the highway journey.

It’s going to be a enjoyable few days!