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Celtics

Nekias Duncan breaks down the 2022 NBA Finals between the Celtics and Warriors from a multitude of angles.

2022 NBA Finals Scouting Report: How the Celtics and Warriors match up

Back. Forth. Back. Forth.
The Miami Heat want to see that pattern continue. The Boston Celtics hope to break that trend. And the team that prevails Wednesday night will be one game away from the NBA Finals.
The Eastern Conference finals has been nothing more than a series of mood swings, with matters set to resume with Game 5 on Wednesday in Miami. The top-seeded Heat and second-seeded Celtics are knotted up at two games apiece; the Heat rallied in the second half to take <a href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-boston-celtics-nba-sports-jimmy-butler-5b5681ec485608add59e6eb15f24ee9f">Game 1,</a> Boston used a huge first-half run to respond and win <a href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-celtics-miami-heat-nba-sports-07cae0349b8cf097f37d7b4ba1a08e8f">Game 2,</a> Miami answered back in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-boston-celtics-nba-sports-jimmy-butler-c3b24c22ddc72b729933c338e2bf9581">Game 3</a> and the Celtics romped in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-boston-celtics-nba-sports-payton-pritchard-ed61092632890921ad8955f047a9c3c7">Game 4.</a>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not surprising,&rdquo; Boston coach Ime Udoka said Tuesday. &ldquo;Two teams that are always going to fight, not really beat themselves, give themselves a chance. I&rsquo;ve known Miami and (Heat coach Erik Spoelstra) for a while now and that&rsquo;s the epitome of who they are &mdash; toughness. Both teams have matched that energy coming off of losses, and now it&rsquo;s our turn to react better to a win.&rdquo;
The Celtics &mdash; even without defensive player of the year Marcus Smart, sidelined again, this time with a sprained ankle &mdash; left no doubt in Game 4, running out to an 18-1 lead to open the game and never coming close to giving up control.
Miami&rsquo;s starters combined for 18 points in Game 4 &mdash; yes, combined, the lowest such total for a starting five in a playoff game in at least 40 years. The Heat were without Tyler Herro because of a groin issue, Jimmy Butler didn&rsquo;t look right (though insisted he was) after missing half of Game 3 with knee soreness, and Kyle Lowry, Max Strus and P.J. Tucker combined to shoot 1 for 17.
It was ugly. But Spoelstra, somehow, still sees beauty in how the series has gone.
There hasn&rsquo;t been a lead change since the first quarter of Game 2; Boston grabbed control of that game and never let go, Miami took a huge early lead in Game 3 and held on late but never ceded the lead entirely and the Celtics took a stranglehold on Game 4 from the opening seconds.
&ldquo;What you&rsquo;re looking at is a great series,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s 2-2. You have to embrace that and come together, and hopefully this competition brings out the absolute best in all of us.&rdquo;
Game 5s, in a tie series, are always swing games. When a series is knotted at 2-2, the Game 5 winner in a best-of-seven series ultimately prevails 82% of the time.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of like a new series,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum said. &ldquo;Best of three.&rdquo;
FOUL MOODS
Boston took 40 more free throws than Miami in Games 3 and 4 combined; the differential was 24 in Game 4 alone. The issue is aggression (or lack thereof), Butler said. &ldquo;I think we have to be more of a forceful-type team, getting into the paint, not shying away from contact and playing from the inside out,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;Whenever we do that and not shoot as many jumpers, we might get fouled a little bit.&rdquo;
QUARTER SCORES
The Celtics have lost three quarters and two games in this series. Of the 16 quarters so far in this matchup, the Celtics have won nine and tied four others. The two quarters that hurt Boston the most are obvious: the third quarter of Game 1 (Miami winning 39-14 to turn that game around) and the first quarter of Game 3 (Miami winning 39-18 to set the tone for that win). The other quarter that the Heat won was meaningless, with Miami outscoring Boston 30-26 in the fourth of the Game 4 blowout.
2-2 HISTORY
The Heat are 9-6 all-time in best-of-seven series that are tied after four games, including 1-0 this season after beating Philadelphia in the East semifinals. The Celtics are 34-13 in best-of-sevens that are 2-2 going into Game 5, also 1-0 this season &mdash; after losing Game 5 to Milwaukee in the East semifinals but winning the final two games of that series.
ODDSMAKERS SAY
Boston is favored by 1.5 points in Game 5 as of Tuesday, <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba">according to FanDuel Sportsbook.</a> That could change, of course, based on injury news and other variables. Miami is 4-1 outright as a home underdog this season and has been favored in 35 of its last 36 home games entering Wednesday.
INJURIES
The Heat are waiting to see if Herro can play in Game 5, and have been dealing with Butler (knee), Lowry (hamstring), Tucker (ankle), Strus (hamstring) and Gabe Vincent (hamstring) being at least mildly limited in recent games. Smart is still trying to get the soreness out of his sprained ankle, and Celtics center Robert Williams III &mdash; who has been slowed in this series by ongoing recovery from knee surgery &mdash; said he emerged from Game 4 without significant issues.

The Eastern Conference finals has been nothing more than a series of mood swings, with matters set to resume with Game 5.

Heat, Celtics now in a best-of-three to decide the East title

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and the Boston Celtics took their turn pounding the Miami Heat early, jumping out to a 26-4 lead and cruising to a 102-82 victory that evened the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.
Miami missed 15 of its first 16 shots in the second straight game that was all but over after 12 minutes. The Heat led 39-18 after the first quarter of Game 3 of this bizarre series in which no game has been close down the stretch.
Game 5 is Wednesday in Miami.
Payton Pritchard had 14 points for the Celtics. Derrick White added 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Robert Williams finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Celtics led by 27 points in the second quarter and stretched their advantage to 32 in the third. Each game in this series has featured a lead of at least 20 points.
Victor Oladipo led the Heat with 23 points. Miami&rsquo;s starting five of All-Star Jimmy Butler (six points), Kyle Lowry (three points), P.J. Tucker (no points), Max Strus (no points) and Bam Adebayo (nine points) were a combined 7 of 36 shooting. They all sat out the fourth quarter.
And the Celtics stymied the Heat without Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, who sat with a sprained right ankle he suffered in the second half of Game 3.
The Heat were without Tyler Herro, who suffered a groin injury late in Game 3.
Butler was in the starting lineup after missing the second half of Game 3 with swelling in his right knee. Lowry (strained left hamstring), Strus (strained hamstring) and Tucker (left knee irritation) all tested their injuries pregame before being cleared to go.
Boston&rsquo;s Williams returned after missing a game with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.
Even with their banged-up roster, the Celtics enjoyed their fastest start of the series. Starting in place of Smart, White scored the game&rsquo;s first seven points as Boston took an 8-0 lead.
It quickly grew to 18-1, with Miami misfiring on its first 14 shots. The Heat didn&rsquo;t get their first points until Adebayo&rsquo;s free throw at the 7:56 mark. Miami made its first field goal at 3:22, a 3-pointer by Oladipo, and finished the quarter 3 for 20.
The Celtics took a 29-11 lead into the second quarter and led 57-33 at the half.
TIP-INS
Heat: Shot 33% (30 of 90). ... Finished with 64 bench points. ... Miami had one point in the first eight minutes, the lowest total by any team in a playoff game in the last quarter-century, according to ESPN Stats &amp; Info.
Celtics: Outrebounded Miami 20-8 in the first quarter. ... Several current and former New England Patriots were in the crowd, including Devin and Jason McCourty, Malcolm Butler and Damien Harris.

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and the Celtics took their turn pounding the Heat early, jumping out to a 26-4 lead and cruised.

Celtics torch Heat early, even series with 102-82 blowout

Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown each had 24 and the Boston Celtics dominated the first half to roll past the Miami Heat 127-102 on Thursday night and tie the Eastern Conference finals at a game apiece.
Smart was a rebound shy of a triple-double, after adding 12 assists and nine rebounds.
Grant Williams scored 19 points for Boston, which used a 17-0 run late in the first quarter &mdash; fueled by five 3-pointers in the span of six possessions &mdash; to take control. Payton Pritchard and Al Horford each had 10 for the Celtics.
Jimmy Butler had 29 points in 32 minutes for Miami, which fell to 7-1 at home in these playoffs. Gabe Vincent and Victor Oladipo each scored 14 points, and Tyler Herro added 11 for the Heat.
The Celtics &mdash; now 4-0 in these playoffs in the game immediately following a loss &mdash; made 20 shots from 3-point range to Miami's 10. Game 3 is Saturday in Boston.
And the margin could have been worse: Boston led by as many as 34 points in the fourth, putting this game on the cusp of really good Celtics history and really bad Heat history. The Celtics' record for biggest postseason win ever is 40, the Heat record for biggest postseason loss ever is 36, and those numbers were within reach before a meaningless Miami run over the final moments.
Boston trailed by 10 in the first quarter, then outscored Miami 60-21 over the next 18 minutes &mdash; a 39-point turnaround that wound up leading to a 70-45 halftime lead.
The 25-point halftime lead was the biggest by the Celtics in any road playoff game, topping a 22-point edge at the break at Chicago in 2009.
Brown had 11 points in the first quarter, when the Celtics went 9 for 11 from 3-point range. Tatum then had 17 points in the second and Boston kept pulling away, on a day where everything went the Celtics&rsquo; way. They learned earlier in the day that two starters &mdash; Horford (virus-related issues) and Smart (mid-foot sprain) &mdash; were cleared to play in Game 2 after missing the series opener.
&ldquo;I got to get my rest, got to get my health back, got to watch and see some things and come out and execute in this game," Smart said.
And the good news kept coming well into the night.
Butler did all he could to try and manufacture a comeback, scoring 16 points in the third quarter and getting the Heat within 17. But a 12-2 run late in the quarter by the Celtics restored a 27-point edge. The lead was 96-71 going into the fourth and the outcome was never remotely close to being in question the rest of the way.
Miami didn't even use its starters in the fourth quarter.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Technically, Boston had one other &ldquo;road&rdquo; game with a bigger halftime lead. The Celtics were the designated visitor on Sept. 7, 2020 &mdash; in the bubble at Walt Disney World &mdash; when they led Toronto by 27 at the break. ... With Horford back, Grant Williams returned to his off-the-bench role. ... Tatum got his second foul with 4:14 left in the first, after charging into Butler. The entirety of the 17-0 run came with him on the bench.
Heat: Kyle Lowry (hamstring) sat for the eighth time in the last 10 games. ... It was the first game since Dallas-Atlanta on Feb. 1, 2020 in which both teams had a 10-point lead in the first quarter.... P.J. Tucker had Miami&rsquo;s first five points, all in the game&rsquo;s first 51 seconds. It was his 863rd career game, the first in which he had five points in the first minute. Those were his only points of the night, and he left in the third quarter with a left knee contusion.
25 TWICE
This Boston team is the sixth club in the last 25 years to have two separate games where it led by at least 25 points in Miami in the same season. The Celtics also did it on Nov. 4. The other teams who pulled it off: Milwaukee last season (won NBA title), San Antonio in 2013-14 (won NBA title), Boston in 2007-08 (won NBA title), Toronto (2007-08) and Charlotte (2000-01).
500 AND COUNTING
The Heat announced their 500th consecutive sellout, excluding games affected by the pandemic. Only Dallas (867 and counting), Portland (814 from 1977 through 1995), Boston (662 from 1980 through 1995) and Chicago (610 from 1987 through 2000) have streaks that the NBA counts as being longer.

Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown each had 24 and the Celtics dominated to roll past the Heat 127-102.

Celtics roll past Heat 127-102, tie East Finals at 1-1

Even as the Boston Celtics led in the first half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, it only felt like a matter of time before the scoreboard would catch up to the Miami Heat offense.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Miami basically has a 105 offensive rating in the half court and the halftime show was almost entirely about offensive concerns.
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1526743543942873088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Then, the Heat exploded in the second half, opening on a 22-2 run and never looking back. They steamrolled the Celtics on both ends and Jimmy Butler took over en route to 41 points. Miami finished with an impressive Offensive Rating of 112.2 on half-court possessions, per Cleaning the Glass. That ranks in the 88th percentile of playoff games this season; according to our Nekias Duncan, the league average is 95.6 points per 100 possessions.&nbsp;
The Heat's success transcends their normal half-court production. Even with the Game 1 win, Miami is still averaging just 95.0 half-court points per 100 possessions in the playoffs, and the team's regular season rating was similarly low (97.6). And even taking the scope back to a base level &mdash; how many people expected the Heat to drop 118 points in the first game against one of the league's best defenses?
Sure, the Celtics were missing two key cogs in Marcus Smart and Al Horford, but it was still an impressive effort. It also exposed the dilemma Boston has with Payton Pritchard.
The second-year guard is the Celtics' best shooter in a rotation that sometimes needs a perimeter lifeline, and simultaneously, their worst defender in a scheme that can't afford porous perimeter defense.&nbsp;
Nekias was all over this in his pre-series scouting report and had a noteworthy stat after Game 1:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Pritchard was targeted 16 times in PnR tonight, and the Heat scored well over 1.2 points per possession on those trips 😵&zwj;💫<a href="https://t.co/Sh3NLiMvTK">https://t.co/Sh3NLiMvTK</a> <a href="https://t.co/eTxYIQKXDI">pic.twitter.com/eTxYIQKXDI</a>
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1526772020217798656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The Heat went after Pritchard, who logged his postseason high with 30 minutes in the loss. They put him through the blender on screens and forced him to play chaser. At 6-foot-1 with a 6-foot-4 wingspan, Pritchard just doesn't have enough length to overcome falling into recovery mode.
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Prtichard also just struggles fighting through screens despite being fairly built for his size (listed around 200 pounds). That fourth clip is telling; he's pretty powerless against Butler, and it leads to an easy Max Strus three-pointer. Pritchard and Jaylen Brown could have communicated better on that play and had Brown chase after Strus, but it seems the job was supposed to be Pritchard's.&nbsp;
Miami then attacked Pritchard on the ball during its second-half surge.&nbsp;
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When Butler found 1-on-1 chances against Pritchard, the Heat superstar was able to get into his bag with relative ease. In the second clip, Pritchard stays up tight against Butler, and it looks like solid defense. But even that effort appears meaningless. Butler made one basic spin move, didn't need to counter and rose high above the contest for a confident make.&nbsp;
This isn't to say Pritchard is the primary reason for Boston's loss by any means. But he is going to be a matchup Miami hunts throughout this series. The Heat have players who are unbothered by his defense (Butler, Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo) and players who can wreak havoc against him away from the ball (Strus, Gabe Vincent).&nbsp;
The Celtics are going to be challenged when Pritchard is defending. Their trade-off is that he is, in many cases, their spark and offensive savior from long range. Through the postseason, opponents have dared complementary players like Grant Williams, Derrick White, Horford and Smart to shoot as defenses load up on Jayson Tatum and Brown. The one supporting cast member they cannot forget about is Pritchard.
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The 24-year-old has blossomed into one of the most efficient perimeter shooters in the entire NBA. Among all postseason players with at least 20 pull-up shot attempts, Pritchard ranks fourth with a 58.3% Effective Field Goal percentage. He ranked eighth among 171 players with at least 100 pull-up attempts in the regular season at 53.6%. Then, he turned around and made 42.8% of his catch-and-shoot threes in the regular season and finished 13th in overall three-point percentage (41.2%).
Pritchard has limitless range and enduring confidence. His threes came from 26 feet from the basket on average, according to The BBall Index, putting him in the 82nd percentile at his position. Aside from maybe Tatum, Pritchard is the only Celtic who could hoist up deep triples without inciting grimaces from fans.
His overall offensive game, though, is a bit more complicated.&nbsp;
Pritchard is a rock-solid passer. He's dished out 23 assists against just 3 turnovers in the playoffs so far; that 7.67 assist-to-turnover-ratio is the best among anyone who has been in at least eight playoff games. When he drives to the basket, he's able to make the right kick-out plays. The problem is his drives aren't threatening to opposing defenses.&nbsp;
Second Spectrum says that 221 players drove to the basket at least 150 times in the regular season. Pritchard passed out of his drives a whopping 60.7% of the time &mdash; the fourth-most of any such player. When he did attempt a shot, it didn't go so well; his 37.7% field goal percentage tied for 16th-worst. In his 173 regular-season drives, he scored 45 points. That 26.0% rate is, again, the fourth-lowest of the 221 qualifying players.
Pritchard has scarcely needed to drive the ball for most of the postseason, and had actually gone 4-for-4 on driving shots in the first two rounds. Then, we got to the conference finals, where he went 1-for-4 in Game 1.
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The burst just isn't there for Pritchard, who pounds the ball hard and tries to lower his shoulder without much success. Caleb Martin is a solid defender who walled Pritchard up in the first clip. Herro wasn't fazed in the second clip, and on an empty-corner drive, Bam Adebayo has plenty of time to help. Without a strong first step, Pritchard can't use his shooting threat to successfully attack closeouts. He doesn't get the head start that others, even Williams and White, receive.&nbsp;
Speaking of White &mdash; he'll be out for Game 2. Smart's availability is still up in the air as of this writing. That's possibly two dynamic attacking guards that the Celtics won't have in a critical second game, which means even more responsibility falls on Pritchard's shoulders.
Boston needs Payton Pritchard in its rotation. The perimeter prowess and reliable passing help keep a volatile offense from falling off the rails. But Ime Udoka and the Celtics' coaching staff have to figure out how to keep Miami away from matchup-hunting Pritchard and keep him in advantageous offensive positions. He'll be an X-factor in Game 2 and a swing player for the remainder of this series.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>As I mentioned, Pritchard is fourth among postseason players in pull-up effective field goal percentage. Jordan Clarkson (60.9%) is first and Chris Paul (60.4%) is second, though both have been eliminated. But third place, at 59.3%, might surprise you: Marcus Smart.</li>
<li>We're in draft season!!! It's one of my favorite times of the year. Let's get excited. Here's an interesting graph of the careers of various draft picks throughout much of NBA history. There's more in the thread:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
1/ Since 1978, 2063 players were drafted (*Early draft selected more than 200 players) But, 401 draftee couldn't play a single game in NBA <a href="https://t.co/rXttO2xYRH">pic.twitter.com/rXttO2xYRH</a>
&mdash; TheNext23 (@TNext23) <a href="https://twitter.com/TNext23/status/1526959550624301056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>SIS Hoops just keeps on keepin' on with its sweet graphics. This one's interesting because it crosses over several different player archetypes:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
What can we learn from identifying who takes open shots most often in this year&rsquo;s playoffs? A combination of secondary creators, play finishers, and star initiators lead the way: <a href="https://t.co/U3LEd0LvKq">pic.twitter.com/U3LEd0LvKq</a>
&mdash; SIS Hoops (@SIS_Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/SIS_Hoops/status/1526986648499912704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Payton Pritchard was a defensive target for the Heat in Game 1, but if the Celtics hope to advance, they need his long-range shooting.

NBA Stats Notebook: The Celtics and the Payton Pritchard conundrum

Over the years, I like to think I&rsquo;ve learned a lot about the game of basketball.&nbsp;
And while I still have a lot to learn, I think I have a pretty solid formula for how one should go about learning about the game of basketball.
It&rsquo;s simple, you watch it (obviously), look through stats, read about it, listen to podcasts about it (like <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dunker-spot/id1547857052" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot</a>), and most importantly, you take notes. (It doesn't stop after school!)
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And with that being said, let's sift through some of my game notes from Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals!
Ball-Screen Coverages
As we are all aware by now, the <a href="https://youtu.be/6pwt3k8PzhU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ball-screen</a> has become an essential cog in the machine that is modern-day NBA offenses. So, it would stand to reason that the coverages deployed against this play type are paramount to the structure of today&rsquo;s defenses.&nbsp;
Boston continued riding the wave from Game 7 against Milwaukee, opting to start the series in a drop against Miami. By doing this, the Celtics were also taking a page from their former coach, Doc Rivers.&nbsp;
As Couper Moorhead <a href="https://www.nba.com/heat/news/heat-76ers-make-miss-spoelstra-rivers-butler-harden-embiid">pointed out</a>, the Philadelphia 76ers chose to guard ball-screens 2-on-2 with Embiid in a drop, which, in turn, allowed their ancillary defenders to tighten up on shooters and avoid forfeiting open three-pointers. (The Heat lead the league in percentage on <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/shots-closest-defender/?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;CloseDefDistRange=4-6%20Feet%20-%20Open&amp;sort=FG3_PCT&amp;dir=1">open threes</a> in the regular season).&nbsp;
Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro both <a href="https://streamable.com/172a3w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">burned</a> this configuration at times. But for now, I would continue mixing that formation in with switches until the Heat prove they can consistently bury pull-up threes while also fielding a competent defensive lineup.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, Miami came out the gates switching screens pretty often, and with little resistance. This led to favorable matchups for the Celtics&rsquo; ball-handlers, who cashed in on these opportunities by way of paint touches and lay-down passes to their newly reincarnated big man, Robert Williams III.
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In the second half, the Heat continued switching when appropriate, but they also started sending two to the ball more often. And that &mdash; coupled with their tenaciousness and supreme length &mdash; led to a lot more turnovers (16 compared to 7 in the first half).&nbsp;
An interesting wrinkle to this is that Boston did a great job of <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20/status/1526737206836183041?s=20&amp;t=KodKp7IPvGdsRt1Ph53OPg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">parking good three-pointer shooters</a> one pass away from its ball-handlers (something the Brooklyn Nets struggled doing in their first-round matchup against the Celtics). So, the natural adjustment for Boston to make in Game 2 should be having the blitzed initiator slow down and survey his options to find that open shooter when the help comes to him.
Off-Ball Matchup Hunting
When most of us think about matchup hunting, the image that most likely comes to mind is that of Luka Doncic demanding a ball-screen from a teammate being shadowed by a relatively weak defender. Said defender then switches onto Doncic, and the Slovenian begins to play with his food a bit before swallowing that matchup whole.
The problem with this tactic is, if the defense doesn&rsquo;t immediately concede the switch, you're forced to re-screen until the team finally waves the white flag. This tug of war eats up precious seconds from the shot clock. And eventually, if they can get the shot clock to under 10 seconds, even the most matador-esque defender has a solid chance of inducing a suboptimal shot.
A more natural/cohesive way of exploiting weak points is by setting up these mismatches off-ball.
In this <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1527265386034614272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">linked clip</a>, you see Boston going at Max Strus. To his credit, he&rsquo;s at least a solid defender. He&rsquo;ll serve as their version of a Pat Connaughton &mdash; an occasional victim of the C's attack. Their real target moving forward (the Grayson Allen of this operation) will be Herro.&nbsp;
(*Whispers from the back corner* Notice how Herro was on the bench for the entirety of the Heat&rsquo;s 22-2 run in the third quarter. Coincidence? I think not...)
Boston did some nice things in this department, but the Heat were the true masters of the dark arts in Game 1. Miami spent a bulk of the second half going at the likes of Derrick White and Payton Pritchard by using Butler as a screener whenever one of them was matched up with the ball-handler (particularly when that person was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/appreciating-gabe-vincents-game-one-performance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gabe Vincent</a>).
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Butler used these opportunities to build up steam going downhill (he commandeered an Embiid-ian 18 free throw attempts) or to operate in isolation with an empty corner.&nbsp;
He was magnificent in Game 1, but it's worth pointing out that Pritchard saw 30-plus minutes in this game. With Marcus Smart <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/celtics-injury-updates-marcus-smart-probable-game-2-al-horford-doubtful" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed as probable for Game 2</a>, it will be interesting to observe these actions unfold with the Defensive Player of the Year patrolling the battlefield.&nbsp;
Unorthodox Rim Protection
As we mentioned earlier, the Celtics manufactured a ton of dribble penetration in the first half, leading to 42 points in the paint on 21-of-26 shooting.
In the second half, Boston was relegated to 6 points on 3-of-16 shooting from that area of the floor.&nbsp;
What gives?
Well, the Heat aren&rsquo;t blessed with a basketball-swatting machine like Williams IIIl; they finished dead last in the league in blocks per game during the regular season. So to compensate, they turned to less traditional means.&nbsp;
This all started with their decision to send two defenders at the ball, which led to fewer defensive breakdowns in the restricted area. They also <a href="https://streamable.com/e3g4ta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ICE'd</a> a few ball-screens to further enforce that "no middle" philosophy.&nbsp;
Bam Adebayo and <a href="https://theanalyst.com/na/2022/04/how-p-j-tucker-is-impacting-the-miami-heat-at-age-36/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PJ Tucker</a> did an admiral job of denying entry passes into the paint, and when those passes did find a way through, the Heat used their length and great hands to swipe at the ball and create turnovers.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
One of the more subtle adjustments in the 2nd half from Miami was the decision to try and preemptively swipe down on the ball rather than contest shots at the rim vertically. If you don't have the firepower to meet them at their apex, you may as well not let them even get there. <a href="https://t.co/55GskSOess">pic.twitter.com/55GskSOess</a>
&mdash; Mat Issa (@matissa15) <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1527326345080246273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

That was one of the most crucial adjustments the Heat made in the second half. In the first half, Williams III was making a killing because no one on Miami could match his insane verticality. However, great defenders know (or at least figure out quickly) that when you can&rsquo;t challenge a shot straight up, you need to prevent the shot from taking place altogether. And you do this by getting your hands on it while it's still down by the defender&rsquo;s waist. It&rsquo;s safe to say the Heat have a ton of smart defenders.
Oh, and it also helped that Bam decided to <a href="https://streamable.com/zgpu4a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">catapult a few shots into the spacetime continuum</a>.&nbsp;
See, taking notes is important! Look how much you can digest from making notes about things while you watch and read about a game.
Now, get your pen and paper (or reMarkable) out for Game 2 on Thursday.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
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Mat Issa shares his observations from Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

NBA Eastern Conference Finals notebook: Heat-Celtics Game 1

In a raucous Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Miami Heat walked away with the first tally struck in the win column of the best-of-seven series.
Boston opened up shooting the lights out, taking a 62-54 halftime lead. Jayson Tatum was firing on all cylinders. Robert Williams III was cultivating a no-fly zone with his verticality. Derrick White had Max Strus running circles trying to get open.
Coming out of the locker room for the second half, it was a different story. The Heat cracked off a 22-2 run to start the third quarter. Butler finished the game with 41 points, and his physical drives battered the Celtics, particularly with Payton Pritchard seeing the court as much as he did due to Marcus Smart's injury. Butler's prowess is the main story last night, but as you can hear multiple times a week on The Dunker Spot&nbsp;(<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/young-man-the-three/id1547857052?i=1000561786139" target="_blank" rel="noopener">They just had JJ Redick on, go listen!</a>), good offenses require multiple pressure points &mdash; especially against a defense as good as Boston's.
Tyler Herro had it going off the bench last night and was a bastion for Miami's first-half offense. Victor Oladipo crafted some solid looks out of ball screens, but the finishing wasn't there.
And then, there was Gabe Vincent, who was exceptional in finding his groove in the first half as a tough shot-maker in pick-and-roll situations and off of screens. He also found his teammates well as a second-side operator in the offense.
Vincent finished with a +23 Tuesday night, second in the game only to Butler (+25), and while single-game plus-minus is a finicky metric at times, it was indicative of Miami's play. The best minutes the Heat put forth were with the duo on-court and working in tandem. After a stellar regular season that saw Vincent start 27 games, he struggled a great deal across the first two series from the floor, shooting 27.7% from three and registering a 49.5% True Shooting percentage; a far cry from his regular-season play.
17 points, 3 assists and gritty defense made for a grand return to form for Vincent in the series opener, and a return greatly needed for a Heat team still missing Kyle Lowry.
Vincent's first basket encapsulated much of what was essential in his Game 1; extremely tough and well-defended, and Butler screening (more on that later).
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Ripping off a quick double drag with Butler rolling and PJ Tucker popping, Vincent gets a step or two on Jaylen Brown due to a crunching Tucker screen. Robert Williams III is lurking, already having rejected a similar play from Vincent in an empty side pick-and-roll with Tucker earlier in the first quarter.
Vincent goes up and Williams III magnetizes to the ball, but Vincent adjusts mid-air and gets a remarkable high-glass finish to fall.
With his only second-quarter shot attempt midway through the frame, Gabe hit a relocation three to draw Miami back within single digits.
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Shout out to Caleb Martin for the impromptu screen and calling for Vincent to move and open himself up for the Butler outlet. With how this game was going for Boston early, enough can't be said for how huge this possession was at the time and in retrospect.
Early in the third quarter, there were two huge back-to-back plays by Vincent that kick-started the Heat offense. First, a huge deep self-created three to bail out a stifled possession. To say it felt back-breaking in the moment seems egregious, but just watching that game live, it was like, "WOAH, okay this is happening. The Heat are here."
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There's going to be, and already has been, criticism for Tatum's defense here, but I'm not sure what else you're supposed to do. Play too tight, and Vincent is going for a drawn foul. Tatum looks at the shot clock momentarily and that's right when Vincent rises and fires. Huge shot, huge play; here comes the avalanche (Miamalanche???).
Off another stifled Boston possession, Vincent comes down with a high pick from Bam Adebayo, and tries a pull-up three with about 5.5 seconds off the shot clock. He misses, but the impact is sizable. Boston's defense isn't that set, and it's scrambling to be ready earlier. Butler does his ghostly ninja cut to catch&nbsp; Brown off guard as soon as the shot goes up and seals Jaylen, and the offensive rebound falls right into Butler's lap. Putback, Miami lead.
Here's where the fun wrinkle mentioned earlier starts to come in. Jimmy Butler: Super-screener.&nbsp;
Butler was utilized as a screener for much of the game by the Heat, partially to limit how often he was strictly spacing, but also to get him going towards the rim. With how Vincent started to gun from deep and operate as a handler late second and early third, the combining of pressure points was vital in tearing open the gap and bending the Boston defense in cruel ways.
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Three Vincent-Butler pick-and-roll possessions, three fouls drawn! That's pretty good!
Miami did everything they could to put Pritchard through the ringer. Case in point: This Butler-Vincent dribble handoff.
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Make Pritchard run, get Vincent a half-step, make Tatum think and make a decision with the clear-out. Vincent touches the paint and kicks to Tucker. "BANG!"
Vincent's icing on the cake was this sideline out-of-bounds play.
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Another Butler screen in a quick Chicago action for Vincent. White was legitimately everywhere defensively last night, and yet, he just was rendered null and void by Vincent here. That's a nutty shot regardless of who you are; east/west movement, late clock, pull-up going towards the sideline.
While it would be unreasonable to expect Gabe Vincent to replicate this performance for an entire series, the way he was able to play off of Butler and add in his own wrinkles to the offense as a shot-maker was vital in taking an early series lead.
It was an awesome game from a former undrafted player who continues to ratchet up his play and appears even closer to becoming a future starter in the NBA.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
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The Heat won Game 1 of the East Finals behind a remarkable Jimmy Butler performance and Gabe Vincent's stellar play.

How Gabe Vincent helped Miami exacerbate pressure points in Game 1

Jimmy Butler scored 41 points, and the Miami Heat turned things around with a huge third quarter on the way to beating the short-handed Boston Celtics 118-107 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.
Tyler Herro scored 18 and Gabe Vincent added 17 for the Heat, who outscored Boston 39-14 in the third quarter. Butler had 17 alone in the third, outscoring the Celtics by himself over those 12 minutes.
Max Strus scored 11 and Bam Adebayo added 10 for Miami.
Jayson Tatum scored 29 for the Celtics, who were without starters Marcus Smart (foot) and Al Horford (health and safety protocols). Jaylen Brown added 24 for Boston, which got 18 apiece from Robert Williams III and Payton Pritchard.
Game 2 is Thursday.
Boston led by 13 in the first half and took a 62-54 lead into halftime. Whatever Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said during intermission clearly worked.
A 22-2 run was how Miami started the second half, the run punctuated by steals that led to baskets on three consecutive possessions. Strus had one, the next two by Butler pushed the lead out to 76-64, and the Heat were off and running.
The lead reached 96-76 when Herro was fouled on a 3-point try and made all three free throws early in the fourth.
Boston had a run left; a 10-0 spurt cut the deficit in half, and a 3-pointer from Tatum made it a nine-point game &mdash; outcome still very much in doubt &mdash; with 7:35 left.
But the Heat had a response. PJ Tucker answered Tatum&rsquo;s 3 with one of his own. Brown then connected from deep to get Boston within single digits again, only to have that one answered by a 3 from Strus.
Some of the plans that both sides had for Game 1 were thrown away about 3 &frac12; hours before game time, when the Celtics revealed that Smart and Horford wouldn&rsquo;t be playing. Smart&rsquo;s absence was somewhat expected because of a mid-foot sprain he suffered in Game 7 of the East semifinals against Milwaukee on Sunday.
Horford&rsquo;s absence, however, was a surprise.
He entered the league&rsquo;s health and safety protocols Tuesday afternoon, which ruled him out of Game 1 and quite possibly could keep him out for multiple games going forward. And it&rsquo;s not clear if any other Celtics could need testing.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m honestly unsure about that as of now,&rdquo; Celtics coach Ime Udoka said pregame.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Boston&rsquo;s biggest lead was 13 points. The Celtics are now 46-7 this season in games in which it led by at least that many. ... Boston scored 18 points of the first 6 &frac12; minutes of the first half, then two points in the first 6 &frac12; minutes of the second half. ... The Celtics trailed for only 16 seconds in the first two quarters. ... Boston has dropped 17 of its last 26 East finals games.
Heat: Former Miami guard Goran Dragic was in attendance. ... This series is the 50th in Heat postseason history. They&rsquo;re now 28-22 in Game 1s. ... Butler&rsquo;s 15th point &mdash; a free throw 16 seconds into the second half &mdash; gave him 14,000 for his career, including playoffs. He&rsquo;s the 220th NBA player to score that many. ... Miami missed its first seven shots. ... Tucker left in the second quarter to get his right ankle re-taped, then returned for the second half.
BLOCK PARTY
There were 20 blocked shots in the game &mdash; 12 by Miami, eight by Boston.
SECOND BEST (AND WORST)
The 25-point differential in the third quarter was the second-best for the Heat and the second-worst for the Celtics this season. Miami outscored Charlotte by 27 in the third quarter on Feb. 5. Boston was outscored by 28 points in the fourth quarter by Chicago on Nov. 1.
SLOW SECOND
Boston didn&rsquo;t have a field goal in the first six minutes of the second half &mdash; the slowest start to a half in any of the Celtics&rsquo; 94 games this season. The previous low for field goals made in the opening 6:00 of a half by the Celtics this season, including playoffs, was one in the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 7.

Jimmy Butler scored 41, and the Heat turned things around with a huge third quarter on the way to beating the shorthanded Celtics.

Butler scores 41, Heat take Game 1 from Celtics 118-107

The Eastern Conference field is set, as the Boston Celtics are set to take on the top-seeded Miami Heat for the second time in three years.&nbsp;
This series will have everything you want. Superstar power (Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler) and star power (Bam Adebayo, Jaylen Brown).&nbsp;Former All-Stars that can still give you moments &mdash; hello Al Horford, Victor Oladipo and, if healthy, Kyle Lowry.
It also includes fearless role players who can win you a game. For Boston, that's primarily Marcus Smart, Grant Williams and Robert Williams III. Miami has the Sixth Man of the Year in Tyler Herro, an unrelenting PJ Tucker, as well as a stable of undrafted guards in Max Strus and Gabe Vincent.
On the sidelines, Celtics head coach Ime Udoka has been pressing buttons as well as anyone since the turn of the calendar year. Erik Spoelstra has had a strong argument as the NBA's best coach for nearly half a decade. That battle should be a pleasure, especially on the defensive end.&nbsp;
I&rsquo;m not a coach &mdash; I'm just a pun-loving basketball fan with a hankering for film breakdowns. But instead of a traditional series preview, I decided to go into the basketball trenches and devise game plans for both teams. The tone of this two-part series will be a little more informal, but it will still be informative (at least I hope).
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Without further ado, here is what to look for in the East Finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.
Miami's Defensive Matchups
Gabe Vincent &mdash;&gt; Marcus Smart
Jimmy Butler &mdash;&gt; Jaylen Brown
PJ Tucker &mdash;&gt; Jayson Tatum
Max Strus &mdash;&gt; Grant Williams
Bam Adebayo &mdash;&gt; Al Horford
Boston's Defensive Matchups
Jayson Tatum &mdash;&gt; Gabe Vincent
Marcus Smart &mdash;&gt; Max Strus
Jaylen Brown &mdash;&gt; Jimmy Butler&nbsp;
Al Horford &mdash;&gt; PJ Tucker
Grant Williams &mdash;&gt; Bam Adebayo
We saw these matchups in the most recent outing (March 30). I'd say it's a pretty safe bet this holds to start the series.
Boston's cross-matching intrigues me more than the inverse. Tatum taking Vincent allows him to roam a bit &mdash; unless/until Vincent bombs away from three. Putting Smart on Strus is a great way to take advantage of his screen navigation while eliminating Miami's opening script on offense. The Heat tend to open things up with movement sets to get Strus going early.&nbsp;
Keep an eye on the Williams-Adebayo matchup. Grant has taken on Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo in consecutive rounds, and has done so with success. His blend of mobility and strength could bother Adebayo, and those same traits can turn any pick-and-roll involving Adebayo into a switch.
The Battleground: Paint Touches
At their cores, the Heat and Celtics are switchy groups. In fact, they were&nbsp;the&nbsp;switchiest groups in the NBA &mdash; the Celtics ranked first in on-ball switches per 100 possessions (28.8), while the Heat ranked second (28.7), per Second Spectrum. It will be their primary method of flattening out each other's offenses, hoping to bring the game down into the mud.
With neither team playing drop coverage that often &mdash; the Heat and Celtics ranked 26th and 25th in drop rate, respectively &mdash; it'll be interesting to see who can create openings downhill.&nbsp;
If there's a difference between the two, it's Miami's willingness to dial up the pressure. They'll bust out a full-court press. They're not afraid to trap, particularly if there's only one star on the court. The help is&nbsp;aggressive. That leads to a ton of three-point attempts &mdash; the Heat ranked dead last in three-point rate allowed &mdash; but eighth in opponent rim rate.&nbsp;
The Celtics&nbsp;can&nbsp;do that stuff, but generally don't have to thanks to their collective size and screen navigation up top. They effectively cut off the rim (No. 2 in opponent rim rate) and&nbsp;they're able to force opponents into more mid-range shots. Only the Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards allowed a larger share of mid-range shots than the Celtics this season.
Can the Heat find enough cracks to get into the paint and generate good looks from there? Can the Celtics hit enough threes &mdash; because they will be there &mdash; to loosen things up inside? We shall see.
Celtics' Team Stats (and Boston's stats vs. Miami)&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Offensive Rating: 113.6 (108.6)</li>
<li>True Shooting Percentage: 57.8% (56.7%)</li>
<li>Assist Percentage: 60.9% (60.9%)</li>
<li>Turnover Rate: 13.9% (12.2%)</li>
<li>Pace: 97.26 (96.33)</li>
<li>Free-Throw Attempts: 20.9 (23.3)</li>
<li>Free-Throw Percentage: 81.6% (74.3%)</li>
<li>Three-Point Attempts: 37.1 (40.0)</li>
<li>Three-Point Percentage: 35.6% (35.8%)</li>
<li>Offensive Rebounds: 9.8 (9.0)</li>
</ul>
Celtics' Play Type Breakdown
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-05-15-at-7-13-51-pm_lg.png" alt="" width="1113" height="242" />
Heat's Team Stats (and Miami's stats vs. Boston)
<ul>
<li>Offensive Rating: 113.0 (95.8)</li>
<li>True Shooting Percentage: 58.4% (51.0)</li>
<li>Assist Percentage: 64.4% (70.0%)</li>
<li>Turnover Rate: 14.9% (19.1%)</li>
<li>Pace: 96.53 (96.33)</li>
<li>Free-Throw Attempts: 21.4 (18.0)</li>
<li>Free-Throw Percentage: 80.8% (68.5%)</li>
<li>Three-Point Attempts: 35.8 (39.7)</li>
<li>Three-Point Percentage: 37.9% (32.8%)</li>
<li>Offensive Rebounds: 10.5 (9.3)</li>
</ul>
Heat's Play Type Breakdown&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-05-17-at-9-02-05-am_lg.png" alt="" width="1114" height="241" />
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: EARLY OFFENSE
Lowry's absence looms large for the Heat.&nbsp;
He was the catalyst for their elite transition attack. His touchdown outlet passes put pressure on opponents to get back immediately after possessions end. Early clock pull-up threes became a staple during his time in Toronto; much of that carried over in Miami. Lowry converted 48.0% of his transition threes, including a ridiculous 57.1% clip on pull-ups per Second Spectrum.
With him out for at least Game 1, I'd expect Miami to be even more selective with its pushing. Expect a heavy dose of early-clock dribble handoffs.
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The Celtics weren't a team that ran often either; they ranked 21st in transition frequency (14% of possessions), not too far behind the Heat's middling mark (14.5%) per Cleaning The Glass. The issue is they didn't come close to the Heat's efficiency when they did push. The Heat led the NBA in transition scoring (1.33 points per possession), while the Celtics were 26th (1.21 PPP).
Boston is more likely to feed one of its bigs early as part of the team's Delay series. In those, Horford (or Williams III) will receive the ball in the middle of the floor while the other Celtics screen for each other. This is a very pindown-heavy group.&nbsp;
The tell is when their center (Horford or Williams III) gets an early pass above the break and acts as a handoff hub. It can be as simple as a pair of pindowns &mdash; Tatum receiving one on a side, Brown getting one on the other &mdash; to stretch the defense thin.
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The Celtics can flow into Chicago action &mdash; a pindown into a handoff. It may be a single pindown from the wing to get one of the Jays an early shot or, if the three isn't there, to set up an empty-corner ball-screen.
It'll be important for the Heat to be locked in.
KEY QUESTIONS
1) Who will win the zone battle?
Not to rehash the top, but we know how both teams want to operate defensively. Switch just about any screen; keep the ball in front. Shade off of (perceived) non-shooters to help cut off driving lanes. Bring the game into the gutter.
Both teams have creation-plus-shooting combos that can bend things if they're clicking. The Celtics may be okay giving up mid-rangers, but that's typically where Butler wants to operate. The Heat may be okay trading rim attempts for threes, but how safe of a bet is that with Horford and Williams shooting a combined 21 of 47 (44.7%) on corner triples?
If either team catches a rhythm, the zone will be broken out.
(Quietly, the Heat weren't a good zone offense during the regular season [0.96 PPP, 19th] either.)
As beautiful as the Heat offense looks when they're screening and cutting all over the place, they have possessions where ill-timed cuts can make life easier for an opposing defense. That's exacerbated when teams go zone &mdash; you want to force a zone defender to choose between two players, so improper spacing allows the defense to muck things up without much work.
It's odd to watch the Heat go haywire in the middle of the floor. When a zone is run against their second unit, you feel the lack of playmaking with Dewayne Dedmon at the 5 in place of Adebayo. But with the starters, you sometimes get weird bouts of passiveness.&nbsp;
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That's a darn good counter to a 2-3 zone. Butler gets right into his comfort zone with minimal pressure and... kicks out of it? Huh?
On the flip side, this could be a real problem area for Boston though, a team that ranked 27th in zone offense (0.9 PPP) during the regular season per Synergy. And the Heat don't just&nbsp;go zone; they go to all kinds of zones.&nbsp;
A traditional 2-3, a 3-2, a 1-2-2. They'll go full-court press, then drop into a zone. There are exotic looks, and then there's the Miami Heat defense.
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Much like the Celtics had to quickly adapt to Milwaukee's physicality after their matchup with the Brooklyn Nets, there may be an adjustment period when the Heat throw out their zone. Per Second Spectrum, the Celtics have seen just five (5) zone possessions in the postseason. You might get that in the first six minutes of Game 1.
2) Who&nbsp;can&nbsp;beat drop coverage when they get it?
This can be somewhat of a Tatum question considering his struggles against the Bucks in Round 2. The numbers weren't great &mdash; the Celtics generated a shade under 0.9 PPP on trips where Tatum saw a drop &mdash; but the film was more key.
He'd often pass up more fruitful mid-range attempts, instead opting to string out ball-screens and isolate against a late switch. He's a good enough shot-maker to make that work, but it's a tough diet to live on. And against a team like Miami, I'm not sure how many pockets he can afford to pass up. I've written about his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-miami-heat-boston-celtics-eastern-conference-finals-playoffs-breakdown-preview-how-stop-defend" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lack of a floater before</a>; per Synergy, he's converted just 2 of his 10 runners this postseason, and I'm not sure which number is more concerning.
But this is really a Heat question. Tyler Herro struggled against the Celtics when faced with drop coverage. Between Smart and Derrick White at the point of attack, Herro couldn't consistently shake free. And even when he did, Boston did a good job of providing help at the nail to at least make Herro uncomfortable.
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This is an obvious thing to say, but the Heat are going to need him to get going. Aside from (this version of) Butler, Herro's their best shot-creator in the half-court. He'll need to take pressure off Butler, and carry some of the load when he's heading the second unit.
Whenever Lowry is back, he'll need to channel the same aggression from the last meeting (23 points, 16 shot attempts, 12 threes) if the Celtics drop against him. Ditto for Vincent, whose jumper has quietly fallen off a cliff during the postseason.
3) Derrick White or Victor Oladipo?
At the risk of sounding reductive, these may be the true X-factors of the series.
Both players offer fiesty on-ball defense across multiple positions. Both can juice their offenses in the pick-and-roll, particularly with their downhill chops. And both will likely be ignored when they're stationed off the ball, adding a layer of difficulty for their teammates to generate efficient offense.&nbsp;
White hounded Herro when matched up against them, and found enough utility as a ball-mover for the Celtics to win his minutes +11 in 32 minutes during his lone outing vs. Miami).&nbsp;
Oladipo missed all of the regular-season meetings, but he'll likely see Boston's third-best defender when sharing the court with Miami's other creators. His rim pressure is valuable, but his three-point shooting (27.3% this postseason) can swing things.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li>Butler vs. Tatum is gonna be a freakin'&nbsp;battle&nbsp;in this series. Before either of these guys have an off night against an elite defense, let's commend them for the production they've shown in the playoffs so far. Studs. Superstars.&nbsp;</li>
<li>I touched on it some during the matchup section, but man do the Heat need an aggressive Bam Adebayo in this one. Horford and both Williams pose different issues than Daniel Theis did during the 2020 series. But, in theory, Adebayo should have a size, strength or quickness advantage against anybody he faces. He can't afford to short-circuit with the ball in his hands. His regular-season averages (14.0 points, 9.7 shot attempts) will not cut it.</li>
<li>This could be yet another Jaylen Brown series. He ripped the Heat during their three-game series (25/6/3, 47.8% from three on 7.7 attempts). And aside from a putrid Game 1 against the Bucks, he's been a metronome for Boston this postseason. If the Heat tilt too much attention to Tatum, Brown should have some cracks to attack.</li>
<li>With Williams III expected to proceed without a minutes restriction, I don't think Boston needs to trot Theis out there. Between Horford and the two Williams, they should have more than enough at the 5.</li>
<li>Speaking of 5s, I wonder how much of a leash Dedmon gets in this series. He hasn't given Miami much offensively &mdash; he's not nearly the same roll threat, and there's even been an uptick in illegal screens for him &mdash; but there's value in his rebounding. If this truly turns into a muck fest, extra possessions will be more valuable than usual.</li>
<li>On the bench guard front, let's see how much burn Payton Pritchard gets. He's arguably Boston's best (pull-up) shooter and zone-breaker. He's also going to have the largest target on his back defensively &mdash; especially if he's on the floor at the same time as Butler.</li>
<li>After an 18-perimeter-shot-attempt game from Williams &mdash; in a Game 7! &mdash; I wonder if the volume has gotten to the point where the scouting report officially changes with him. He's shot well from three all season long, but the volume was low enough for teams to feel comfortable helping off of him and daring him to beat them. Let's see if the Heat become the first team to really blink.</li>
<li>Sign me up for all of the defense in this series, man. This is what it's all about.</li>
</ul>
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Nekias Duncan breaks down what to look for in this year's Eastern Conference Finals matchup between the Heat and Celtics.

NBA Scouting Report: What to look for in Heat-Celtics series

Even though the NBA Playoffs present the highest stakes in basketball, the postseason is still akin to its own set of laboratories.
Within a seven-game series, teams are tinkering with strategies and toggling the risk-versus-reward dials on points of emphasis. They also have more data at their disposal, which means more information to sway decisions &mdash; and make those decisions more complicated.
We're onto Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks after two of the more radically divergent results of the postseason so far. But one thing hasn't changed: Boston, through its own creation and the Bucks' defensive scheme, is letting the three-ball fly.&nbsp;
The Celtics have attempted a whopping 93 three-pointers across the first two games in this series. They hoisted up 50 in Game 1 and 43 in Game 2; those totals rank second and seventh among all 2022 playoff games to this point. A mammoth 45 of those 93 perimeter tries (48.4%) have been categorized as "wide open" by Second Spectrum, meaning no defender is within 6 feet of the shooter.
Digging deeper, those 45 wide-open threes make up 27.4% of Boston's overall field goal attempts &mdash; the highest frequency of any team in the second round. (For some context, only 18.8% of the team's shots were wide-open threes during the regular season.)
That frequency is second among all NBA playoff series so far. Not coincidentally, it's just barely behind Milwaukee's first-round opponent, the Chicago Bulls (27.7%).
This isn't some playoff crumbling. The Bucks allowed a league-high 20.3 wide-open threes to opponents in the regular season. They've ranked in the top two for most such shots allowed in each season since Mike Budenholzer took over as head coach in 2018-19. But Milwaukee tailors what it allows opponents to take, hoping to funnel those threes to the most volatile shooters. It worked during the regular season; teams shot 36.3% on wide-open threes against the Bucks, tied for the third-worst percentage in the NBA. Chicago didn't make them pay either, knocking down just 30.4% of those shots.
However, against the Celtics, we've seen the double-edged sword to this approach.
Milwaukee lives with these three-point shots because it wants to fortify the paint with its lineup of big, long, physical defenders. The help defense is so aggressive because the Bucks want to keep Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart from establishing any kind of momentum getting to the basket. Driving lanes are a pillar of today's NBA offenses, and I highly recommend you read <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/offensive-organics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Schindler's recent piece</a> that explains how drives make the league much more than a game of twos and threes.
The Celtics have made a mind-numbing 20% of their shot attempts on drives to the basket this series, per Second Spectrum. They have attempted 40 shots within 5 feet of the rim and finished just 50% of those looks, which is last among the second-round teams. Boston is also bottom-two in shot volume and efficiency from the 5-to-9-foot range and 10-to-14 feet. Milwaukee appears to have built a fortress.
Such an emphasis on paint protection means the Celtics have plenty of three-point chances. This isn't to say the Bucks don't care &mdash; one, that's not how NBA defense works, and two, they have several great recovery defenders on the roster. If Boston moves the ball with purpose, its players can find openings. However, they might be just the players Milwaukee wants firing away.
Here's a breakdown of Boston's three-point shooting volume by rotation player, and the frequency of wide-open looks with data from the NBA's stats site. No efficiency rates yet.
(Scroll right to view full table on mobile)
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 198px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 44px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 44px;">Player</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 44px;">Total 3PA/Game</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 44px;">Wide-Open 3PA/Game</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 44px;">% of 3PA Wide Open </td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 44px;">Wide-Open 3P%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Jayson Tatum</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">9.5</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">2.0</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">21.1%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">50.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Jaylen Brown</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">9.5</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">3.0</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">31.6%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">16.7%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Al Horford</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">7.0</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">6.5</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">92.9%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">30.8%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Grant Williams</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">6.5</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">4.0</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">61.5%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">87.5%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Marcus Smart (1 game)</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">6.0</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">3.0</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">50.0%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">0.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Payton Pritchard</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">6.0</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">2.5</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">41.7%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">40.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 23.1682%; height: 22px;">Derrick White</td>
<td style="width: 17.0894%; height: 22px;">3.5</td>
<td style="width: 21.8959%; height: 22px;">2.5</td>
<td style="width: 20.4272%; height: 22px;">71.4%</td>
<td style="width: 17.3251%; height: 22px;">40.0%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
The big numbers that stand out: Al Horford, Derrick White and Grant Williams have found a&nbsp;lot of open three-point attempts. Meanwhile, Tatum and Brown have captured the attention, and Payton Pritchard has garnered the defense's respect to a lesser extent.
Importantly: This isn't the Bucks simply leaving Horford, Williams and White open without any closeouts. Boston has worked to find these players on the perimeter, and speficially made adjustments in Game 2 that helped these three get in position. <a href="https://theathletic.com/3292733/2022/05/04/celtics-beat-bucks-game-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jared Weiss of&nbsp;The Athletic</a> wrote a fantastic postgame analysis of what changed, so keep it in mind.
The point is that the Bucks have not locked a target on Horford or Williams when they move around off the ball, and it's come with mixed results. Horford actually made 4 of his 9 three-point attempts in the Game 1 loss, but went 1 of 5 from long range in Game 2. Williams, meanwhile, has been on a heater in the series and made 6 threes en route to a career-high 21 points in the Celtics' blowout win.&nbsp;
All of these numbers comprise a miniscule two-game sample size though. What can fans reasonably expect from the Celtics' shooters if things stayed the same? Here's how the non-Jay rotation players fared in desirable settings during the regular season.
(Scroll right to view full table on mobile)
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 132px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Player</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">Wide-Open 3P%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">Catch-and-Shoot 3P%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">Corner 3P%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">Above-the-Break 3P%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Al Horford</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">35.6%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">32.8%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">39.7%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">31.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Grant Williams</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">44.6%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">41.7%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">46.9%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">35.2%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Marcus Smart</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">38.9%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">35.2%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">37.1%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">31.7%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Payton Pritchard</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">44.0%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">42.3%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">57.1%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">37.6%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 19.1094%; height: 22px;">Derrick White</td>
<td style="width: 17.2402%; height: 22px;">28.8%</td>
<td style="width: 20.0439%; height: 22px;">30.8%</td>
<td style="width: 13.3685%; height: 22px;">42.3%</td>
<td style="width: 21.112%; height: 22px;">27.4%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
My takeaways: It's pretty clear that Williams is a certified sharpshooter at this point and capable of killing the Bucks if he keeps receiving these open shots. The same goes for Pritchard, though the Bucks seem to know it already. Meanwhile, Horford appears to make more sense as a perimeter gamble, as do Smart and White.
However, let's not forget the importance of location. Just look the stark differences in efficiency from... well, everyone, when they shot from the corners vs. above the break in the regular season. Milwaukee has done its homework. The Celtics have put up 12.5 corner threes per game in the series, shooting a scorching 56.0%. But it's outweighed by their 33.0 above-the-break attempts per game, which have fallen just 34.8% of the time.
The Bucks recognize that eliminating paint chances means dampening the playmaking chops of Tatum, Brown, Smart, White and Robert Williams III. The Celtics understand that they have to bet on their shooters, which can open up close-out attacks, extra passes and more open shots &mdash; as we saw in Game 2.
It's a game of risk analysis within a game of prioritization within a game of tendencies, and that's what makes the NBA Playoffs so captivating.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Staying in the vein of team-wide shot creation, here's an SIS Hoops graphic detailing which remaining squads are getting what most would categorize as ideal attempts:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The value of rim attempts and threes is widely understood, but not all shots within those buckets are created equal. Here&rsquo;s a look at which remaining playoff teams produce the most &ldquo;high-quality&rdquo; shots at the basket and from beyond the arc: <a href="https://t.co/4735x1mF5T">pic.twitter.com/4735x1mF5T</a>
&mdash; SIS Hoops (@SIS_Hoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/SIS_Hoops/status/1521889891809865728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Go read this thread from Div, who expertly explains why the analytics stereotype has already been left in the dust by today's actual NBA:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Really interesting chart. But I think a better way to frame this might be - MoreyBall already won, and so the easy gains from it are already baked in for every team. /mini-thread <a href="https://t.co/wO3W8Yz8H2">https://t.co/wO3W8Yz8H2</a>
&mdash; Div B (@statcenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/statcenter/status/1521488176644304897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

<ul>
<li>Nekias Duncan whipped out a ton of eye-popping stats in his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/there-are-no-good-answers-for-the-chris-pauldeandre-ayton-duo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis of the Chris Paul-Deandre Ayton pairing</a>, but it's perhaps best captured with this one:&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
During the regular season, defenses surrendered a shade under 1.22 points per possession (PPP) to them on direct plays. That isn't just the best mark in the NBA among high-volume pairings (min. 300 picks); they're over 5 points per 100 possessions better than second place (Atlanta's Trae Young-Clint Capela, 1.16 PPP). That Paul-Ayton number has gone up during the postseason (1.24 PPP), a remarkable feat considering they've run 48 more&nbsp;picks against drop than any other duo.
</blockquote>
Definitely go read his breakdown.
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The Bucks have been content to let the Celtics shoot threes, but is this strategy too risky to maintain?

NBA Stats Notebook: The Celtics and Bucks' three-point standoff

The Boston Celtics have ruled Marcus Smart out for Tuesday night's Game 2 versus the Milwaukee Bucks due to a thigh contusion.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NEBHInjuryReport?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NEBHInjuryReport</a> update: Marcus Smart (right thigh contusion) - OUT
&mdash; Boston Celtics (@celtics) <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1521595145598164992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

ANALYSIS: Smart suffered the injury in their Game 1 loss against the Bucks. Without the newly-named Defensive Player of the Year, the Celtics will have to rely more on Derrick White and Payton Pritchard as they try to even this series on their home court.&nbsp;

The Boston Celtics have ruled Marcus Smart out for Tuesday night's Game 2 versus the Milwaukee Bucks due to a thigh contusion.

Celtics' Marcus Smart ruled out for Game 2 vs. Bucks

The stoppers are suffocating the scorers.
And as Boston was finishing another shutdown effort against Kevin Durant and the Nets, a loud &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s Go Celtics! Let&rsquo;s Go Celtics!&rdquo; chant broke out from the many fans in green who had seats in Barclays Center.
There wasn&rsquo;t much for the home fans to cheer about as the Nets face a team that just won&rsquo;t let them get anything going.
&ldquo;More of the same,&rdquo; Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re making it tough.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum scored 39 points, Jaylen Brown had 23 and Boston took a 3-0 lead over Brooklyn with a 109-103 victory Saturday night.
Again making things difficult on Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Celtics put themselves in position to sweep their way into the second round with a victory Monday night in Brooklyn.
The Celtics forced 21 turnovers that led to 37 points. Tatum had six of their 13 steals.
&ldquo;My message is, nobody plays harder than we do,&rdquo; Tatum said.
Durant took only 11 shots, finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Irving was 6-for-17, missing all seven 3-pointers, and also had 16 points for the Nets, who have to decide if they will give Ben Simmons his debut Monday in an elimination game.
Boston&rsquo;s defense against the Nets&rsquo; firepower was supposed to make this a can&rsquo;t-miss series, even though it matches a No. 2 seed against a No. 7.
But it&rsquo;s been mostly all Celtics since Tatum&rsquo;s basket at the buzzer gave them a victory in Game 1. Durant and Irving combined for just one basket in the second half of Game 2, never had much impact in this one and might get only one more chance.
&ldquo;We know what it is,&rdquo; Durant said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think no speech or anything will do at this part of the year. You know what it is. We&rsquo;re down 3-0. We got another game on Monday. Just come out and play.&rdquo;
Boston led most of the way before the Nets cut it to three with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter. But Marcus Smart scored on a follow shot, made a jumper in transition before Brown got a steal and dunk to make it 81-72 going to the fourth.
Brown kept the Nets at bay from there, repeatedly finding a 1-on-1 matchup and driving to the basket. He set up Tatum for a 3-pointer in the corner after the Nets had gotten back within four, then made a jumper before Tatum converted a three-point play that made it 96-84 with 6:25 to play.
The Celtics got center Robert Williams back after missing nearly a month with torn cartilage in his left knee, making their defense even stronger.
Bruce Brown was the Nets player who could really solve it, scoring a career playoff-high 26 points.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not being forceful in our actions. We&rsquo;re second-guessing ourselves a little bit. Throwing a lot of passes that are second thoughts. They&rsquo;re too good a team for us to do that,&rdquo; Nets coach Steve Nash said.
Durant was only 13-for-41 (31.7%) in the two games in Boston with 12 turnovers, and the Nets&rsquo; only real hope was if he could regain his form back home.
He made a 3-pointer on his first shot attempt after going 0-for-10 in the second half in Game 2, but he could never consistently find room to shoot while committing five more turnovers and looking far off the player who came in third all-time in the playoffs with 29.4 points per game.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a a hard time getting it going,&rdquo; Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;We want to keep it that way because we know what he can do.&rdquo;
The Celtics limited Durant to just two shots and led 30-25 after one quarter, then got seven straight points by reserve guard Payton Pritchard to open the second and push the lead to 37-25. Boston was still ahead by eight with under 1 1/2 minutes left in the half, but the Nets scored seven straight and it was 53-50 at the break.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Smart scored 14 points. &hellip; Williams had two points and two rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench in his first game since March 27 after missing final seven games of the regular season.
Nets: Patty Mills was honored before the start for being voted the winner of the NBA&rsquo;s Sportsmanship Award on Friday. ... Blake Griffin played for the first time in the series, scoring eight points. ... Director Spike Lee, a longtime Knicks fan, was at the game wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers jersey and hat.
SIMMONS STATUS
Nash said Simmons scrimmaged 3-on-3 Saturday morning and had no setbacks. He said it&rsquo;s possible Simmons plays in Game 4 but cautioned that given his long layoff, with his herniated disk at the end of it, that there was more to consider than if Simmons felt good after his workouts.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of bigger picture, bigger context to how he&rsquo;s feeling, how able he would be to adapt to the environment,&rdquo; Nash said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little different than playing a game that&rsquo;s stashed away in the middle of the regular season, so I think that there&rsquo;s a few factors at play here to evaluate when he&rsquo;s ready to play.&rdquo;

The Boston Celtics stymied Brooklyn's Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on defense and took a 3-0 series lead over the Nets.

Tatum, Brown lead Celtics to 109-103 win, 3-0 lead over Nets

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jaylen Brown scored 22 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, and the Boston Celtics rallied from 17 points down to beat the Brooklyn Nets 114-107 on Wednesday night and take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.
Jayson Tatum added 19 points for the Celtics, who held Kevin Durant without a basket in the second half. Al Horford had 16 points, Daniel Theis scored 15 and Payton Pritchard had eight of his 10 in the final period.
Durant finished with 27 points but struggled from the field for the second straight game, shooting 4 of 17. Kyrie Irving had just 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting a day after being fined $50,000 for directing obscene gestures and profane language at Celtics fans during Game 1.
The series shifts to Brooklyn for Game 3 on Saturday night.
Durant and Irving were a combined 1 for 17 in the second half. Bruce Brown finished with 23 points and Seth Curry added 16.
The TD Garden faithful peppered Irving with boos throughout, beginning with the pregame introductions. The volume ratcheted up after tipoff with the addition of &ldquo;Kyrie sucks! Kyrie sucks!&rdquo; chants on each of Brooklyn&rsquo;s first two possessions. The boos returned whenever he got his hands on the ball.
Boston trailed the entire first half but finally caught up to tie it at 79 on a short jumper by Daniel Theis. The Nets were able to settle in and took a 90-85 edge to the final period.
The Celtics tied it up again at 92 early in the fourth on a leaner by Jaylen Brown and took their first lead of the game with 7:48 left on a jumper by Pritchard.
It was part of 23-4 run that grew the Celtics&rsquo; lead to 108-96. The Nets went almost three minutes without a basket during the stretch.
The barrage of boos fans aimed at Irving did little to rattle Brooklyn early. The Nets jumped out to a 9-0 lead, which led to a quick Boston timeout. Bruce Brown had all nine points, part of a 12-point quarter that helped put Brooklyn in front 33-24.
The lead increased to 45-31 in the second, prompting another Celtics timeout. During the break, Marcus Smart, who injured his left thumb minutes earlier while diving on the floor after a loose ball, could be seen grimacing as trainers attended to him on the bench.
He got the thumb taped and remained in the game, scoring six straight points.
Brooklyn settled in and got its lead as high as 15 before a late flurry by Boston helped it trim the deficit to 65-55 at half.
TIP-INS
Nets: Irving, who is observing Ramadan, came out of the game with 3:23 left in the first quarter. He went to locker room and returned with food, the sun having just set in Boston. &hellip; Curry was called for a flagrant foul in the first after he grabbed Tatum&rsquo;s arm and knocked him to the ground while breaking up a sure fast-break basket.
Celtics: Had nine turnovers in the first half.
MAKING PROGRESS
Nets: Ben Simmons went through some contact work with teammates on Wednesday, which coach Steve Nash called &ldquo;another step&rdquo; in the point guard&rsquo;s rehab efforts on his injured back. But Nash said an ESPN report that Simmons could return to action as early as Game 4 was news to him.
Celtics center Robert Williams III has started participating in 3-on-3 play, coach Ime Udoka said.
Though Udoka cautioned the team still isn&rsquo;t anticipating him recovering from his recent knee surgery to return in time for this series.

The Boston Celtics' stifling defense led the way in a Game 2 win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Celtics rally in 2nd half, beat Nets 114-107 for 2-0 lead

CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; Jaylen Brown scored 25 points, Al Horford added 17 on 7-of-7 shooting and the Boston Celtics routed the Chicago Bulls 117-94 on Wednesday night for their 50th victory.
The Celtics have won three in a row and are 27-6 since Jan. 22. They can wrap up the second spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs Thursday night with a victory at Milwaukee.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pretty simple formula,&rdquo; Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. &ldquo;Play defense at an elite level. Share the ball, be unselfish on offense. And the results are there.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum scored 16 points for Boston. He was 5 of 18 from the field, making only one of eight from 3-point range.
The Bulls have lost two straight. They claimed a playoff berth Tuesday.
DeMar DeRozan scored 16 points for Chicago, and Nikola Vucevic added 13 points. Vucevic had four of the Bulls&rsquo; 17 turnovers.
&ldquo;I think what happens is when you&rsquo;re winning, you have a false sense of reality of who you are,&rdquo; Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. &ldquo;And when you&rsquo;re losing, you have a false sense of reality of who you are.&rdquo;
The Celtics had a 16-4 run midway through the first quarter to take a 31-14 lead. They shot 57.8% in the first half, going 9 of 18 from 3-point range. Reserve guard Payton Pritchard was 3-for-3 from long distance in the second quarter.
Coming off a home loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday night, the Bulls committed 10 turnovers in the first half. Their frontline depth was weakened when forward Patrick Williams committed his fourth foul with 4:31 left in the second quarter.
Bulls guard Zach LaVine was 1 of 5 from the filed in the first quarter, didn&rsquo;t attempt a shot in the second quarter and finished 2 of 9. He had seven points.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to play when we&rsquo;re disconnected like this, and the results show,&rdquo; LaVine said. &ldquo;Offensively, defensively, we're disconnected right now. We have to find our rhythm in these next two games.&rdquo;
Former President Barack Obama attended the game.
TIP-INS
Celtics: C-F Robert Williams (knee) remained in Boston to help &ldquo;expedite the process&rdquo; of his recovery, Udoka said. Williams hasn&rsquo;t played since March 27, and he was expected to be sidelined from four to six weeks, which would rule him out for the first round of the playoffs.
Bulls: G Alex Caruso was ruled out because of a sore back. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just not moving like he normally does,&rdquo; said Donovan, adding that Caruso has been coping with the residual effects of a sore wrist he fractured on Jan. 21. G Matt Thomas (right leg bruise) also was ruled out.
UP NEXT
Celtics: At Milwaukee on Thursday night.
Bulls: Vs. Charlotte on Friday night.

Jaylen Brown scored 25 points, Al Horford added 17 on 7-of-7 shooting and the Boston Celtics routed the Chicago Bulls 117-94.

Celtics rout Bulls for 50th, close in on No. 2 spot in East

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jaylen Brown scored 32 points, Jayson Tatum had 22 and the Boston Celtics cruised to a 144-102 victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday in their regular-season home finale.
Jockeying for one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference, Boston posted a season-high 39 assists en route to its 13th win in 16 games with three games left in the regular season.
&ldquo;Man, we've come a long way,&rdquo; Brown said his team's resurgence.
The Celtics were struggling with a 16-19 record in late December. They've gone 33-11 since.
&ldquo;I'm feeling comfortable. I'm being aggressive, just trying to take it to the next level heading into the playoffs,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;Making the right reads and the right passes. Shots fell tonight, which is good.&rdquo;
Derrick White added 17 points, Grant Williams 16 and Payton Pritchard 14 for the Celtics, who finished 28-13 at TD Garden. Tatum had seven assists and six rebounds, while Brown added seven boards with five assists.
Boston closes with a tough road trip to Chicago, Milwaukee and Memphis.
&ldquo;It'll be a great test,&rdquo; coach Ime Udoka said. &ldquo;This all kind of leans into going into the playoffs, and it'll keep us sharp and focused.&rdquo;
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kristaps Porzingis each had 17 points for Washington, and Ish Smith finished with 16.
Eliminated from playoff contention earlier this week, the Wizards had won four of five.
&ldquo;I think we got hit and we were playing catch-up the entire game,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;That train continues to move. They&rsquo;ve been playing the best of anybody in the NBA since January 1.&rdquo;
Appearing bored by the lack of challenge by Washington, the crowd started the wave in the final quarter, something rarely seen at home games.
Boston opened a double-digit lead late in the first quarter on Tatum&rsquo;s driving layup and was never tested.
The Celtics, who scored 35 points in each of the first two quarters, led by 13 after one quarter and 11 at halftime.
They pushed the lead to 20 &mdash; 80-60 &mdash; on Al Horford&rsquo;s 3 from the top of the key three minutes into the second half.
&ldquo;We became stagnant and weren't moving the ball," Caldwell-Pope said. &ldquo;We couldn't get a shot moving to the basket. They played great defense. They switch one-to-five and make it tough."
Boston led by 25 points after three quarters, allowing Udoka to rest his starters.
EXPERIMENTING
Udoka said before the game he&rsquo;s most concerned with how his team&rsquo;s performing going into the playoffs.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a balance, we&rsquo;re worrying about ourselves and how we&rsquo;re playing more so than the opponent and where we&rsquo;re going to fall,&rdquo; he said.
He&rsquo;s also planning on trying different lineups after center Robert Williams III was lost for 4-to-6 weeks following left knee surgery on March 30.
&ldquo;We need to keep looking at rotations and see what works best for us going forward,&rdquo; he said.
LIKE FATHER LIKE SON
Tatum warmed up before the game, slowly jogging with a resistance band around his waist being held by a member of the team&rsquo;s staff with his 4-year-old son, Deuce, running in front of him.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Opened a three-game road swing Sunday. ... Porzingis scored the Wizards&rsquo; final eight points of the first half after a relatively poor start.
Celtics: Tatum didn&rsquo;t play the final quarter and Brown saw just a couple of minutes. ... Udoka said Tatum tested his sore right knee to see if he was able to play, as he has since he missed a game in Toronto on March 28. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of been the process the last few games,&rdquo; the coach said. ... Marcus Smart addressed the crowd before the game on Fan Appreciation Day, thanking them for &ldquo;being the best sixth man you can ask for.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Wizards: At the Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Celtics: At the Bulls on Wednesday.
&nbsp;

Jaylen Brown scored 32 points, Jayson Tatum had 22 and the Celtics cruised to a 144-102 victory over the Wizards.

Jaylen Brown scores 32 points; Celtics rout Wizards 144-102

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each scored 30 points and the sizzling Boston Celtics stymied reigning MVP Nikola Jokic on their way to routing the Denver Nuggets 124-104 Sunday night.
The Celtics shot 57.3% from the floor and finished 19-of-40 from beyond the arc. They also hit all 11 of their free throws.
Jokic missed 14 shots in the first half and finished a wildly uncharacteristic 8-for-23 from the floor for 23 points
&ldquo;Physicality,&rdquo; Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. &ldquo;He was comfortable early. He had 12 in the first quarter, four in the second and seven the rest of the way. He was too comfortable early, gave him too much air space. It&rsquo;s mixing up looks, keep him off balance, switching matchups and giving him different bodies.&rdquo;
Jokic, who's having an even better season statistically that he did a year ago, said this loss was on him, not any of his teammates.
&ldquo;Overall, they had a really good defensive game and I had a really bad offensive game,&rdquo; said Jokic.
For once, it was Tatum getting serenaded with &ldquo;MVP&rdquo; chants instead of Jokic at Ball Arena.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great feeling,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;You expect that, get that at home, but when you travel and you see all the Celtics jerseys and T-shirts and hoodies and hear them chanting for you on the road, that&rsquo;s an incredible feeling.&rdquo;
Tatum and Payton Pritchard each hit four 3-pointers before the break, sparking the Celtics on a 46-21 run to close out the first half. Boston scored its last 15 points of the second quarter on 3-pointers, and Tatum's half-court heave at the buzzer rimmed out.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone was so disgusted with his team's effort in its fourth loss in six games that he benched his starters to start the second half.
&ldquo;To me, it appeared we just kind of gave in and quit. And I didn't want to reward that behavior," Malone said. "I thought the bench unit was at least going out there and competing and fighting.&rdquo;
More than anything, Malone said it was alarming to see his starters play that way here in the middle of March with the Nuggets jockeying for playoff positioning.
&ldquo;Tonight I can't point to one thing we did well,&rdquo; Malone said.
And he couldn't point to one thing the Celtics did poorly, either.
The Celtics outshot Denver 64.3% to 30.6% in the first half and pushed their lead to 90-62 late in the third quarter in cruising to their third straight victory.
The Nuggets' worst loss this season was by 29 points on Nov. 21 when they were run off the court in Phoenix, 126-97.
&ldquo;I told them at halftime, you're lucky this was a &lsquo;Celtics home game,&rsquo;&rdquo; Malone said of the large contingent of boisterous Celtics fans at Ball Arena. &ldquo;Because if it wasn't, the boos would have been &mdash; rightfully so &mdash; really, really loud.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: F Aaron Nesmith sat out with a sprained right ankle. He hasn&rsquo;t played since March 3 vs. Memphis. ... Boston closed the first quarter on an 11-5 run with Jokic on the bench as Daniel Theis hit a jumper, a 3-pointer after saving an errant pass and an alley-oop dunk before Tatum closed the quarter with an uncontested 3. ... Pritchard added a 3 in the closing minutes, finishing 5 of 5 from behind the arc before adding a late layup to finish with 17 points. Grant Williams added 13.
Nuggets: Jokic led all scorers with a dozen points in the first quarter, but his tough night shooting the ball was already apparent as he went 3 for 8 from the floor. He got colder still in the second quarter, missing all but two of his 11 shots. He finished 8 for 23.
MURRAY MYSTERY
Jamal Murray showed up in the third quarter in street clothes. The Nuggets have no idea if their star point guard will suit up anytime soon. Murray recently practiced with the Grand Rapids Gold, their G League affiliate, as he continued his comeback from ACL surgery last spring. Coach Michael Malone said there's no roadmap for Murray's next steps, although returning to Grand Rapids is a possibility.
DROP-DEAD DATE?
There may not be reinforcements on the way for the Nuggets as they try to straighten things out. Malone said he doesn't know if Murray and/or F Michael Porter Jr. (back surgery) will be shut down until next season if they're not back on the court by a certain date.
"It&rsquo;s a valid question, one that I just don&rsquo;t have an answer to," Malone said.
Hyland said Cousins and a few other veterans addressed the team after the loss.
UP NEXT
Boston: Visits Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
Denver: Hosts the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each scored 30 points and the sizzling Celtics routed the Nuggets 124-104 on Sunday night.

Sizzling Celtics race past Nuggets 124-104

Jayson Tatum scored 21 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Boston Celtics past the Memphis Grizzlies 120-107 on Thursday night.
Al Horford had 21 points and 15 rebounds, Robert Williams finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who shot 51.7% and won for the ninth time in 11 games. Marcus Smart finished with 18 points and 12 assists, Derrick White scored 12 and Grant Williams 11.
Ja Morant, coming off a career-high 52 points Monday night in a win over San Antonio, scored 38 for Memphis after struggling through the first quarter. Desmond Bane finished with 17 points and seven assists.
Boston started pulling away in the second half, opening the third period on a 10-2 run and then turning to Tatum, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, throughout the fourth.
After Bane hit a 3-pointer that pulled Memphis within 91-84, Tatum scored six straight for Boston and followed that with an assist on a jumper by Payton Pritchard that put Boston up 99-84. Tatum scored the next eighth points for Boston, then added a 3-pointer that finished off the Grizzlies, giving Boston a 115-100 lead with 1:34 left to play.
Morant, who was 0 for 6 in the first quarter with a pair of free throws, ended up scoring 30 points in the second half as he tried to keep the Grizzlies within range. He did show his leaping ability late in the second quarter on an alley-oop, slamming down a one-handed dunk off a pass from Kyle Anderson to pull the Grizzlies within 45-42 with 1:39 to go before halftime.
SHORT-HANDED
Already missing starting forward Jaylen Brown with a sprained right ankle, the Celtics lost his replacement to the same injury early in the first quarter when Aaron Nesmith rolled his ankle after going up for a defensive rebound. He did not return.
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: Never recovered from a slow start, making 8 of 29 shots in the first quarter and hitting just 2 of 14 3-pointers. ... G/F John Konchar missed his second straight game with a sprained left ankle.
Celtics: First-year coach Ime Udoka was named the NBA Eastern Conference coach of the month Monday after Boston went 9-2 in February. &hellip; Boston led 26-20 at the end of the first quarter despite committing six turnovers.
UP NEXT
Grizzlies: Host the Orlando Magic on Saturday night.
Celtics: Host the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday afternoon.

Jayson Tatum scored 21 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Celtics past the Grizzlies 120-107 on Thursday night.

Tatum nets 37, leads Celtics past Morant, Grizzlies 120-107

We've seen many claims for the East's best team this season.&nbsp;
The Bucks are last year's champions, and have won over 80% of their games when their Big Three (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton) is available this year.&nbsp;
The Nets, Bulls and Heat have all had runs as the East's top seed despite myriad injuries &mdash; and in the case of the Nets, vaccine &mdash; absences. Even now, Miami and Chicago have the same record (37-21), with the Heat holding the head-to-head tiebreaker.
We can't forget the Cavaliers, an upstart bunch that had the East's best net rating through December 31. The Sixers have the best win percentage (72%) in the East since Christmas; related, Joel Embiid is averaging a league-leading 33.1 points (63.1 True Shooting percentage), 11.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists during that stretch.
For those counting, that's six teams that have or had "we're-playing-better-than-anyone-in-the-conference" arguments this season. Since the turn of the calendar, the Boston Celtics have submitted a strong case to be the seventh.
The Celtics have a conference-best 17-6 record in 2022. Their plus-13.2 net rating doesn't just top the conference &mdash; it's nearly three points better than the Phoenix Suns for the league's top mark.
Their defense, both overall (100.4 defensive rating) and filtered for half-court situations (85.9), is roughly&nbsp;four&nbsp;points better than anyone else's this year. The offense, once maligned for its lack of movement and underwhelming shot profile, is hovering around the top 10 in 2022.
There are caveats to throw out if you want to discount some of their statistical dominance. Chief among them are the key absences some of their opponents have faced. And trust me, the irony of dropping this piece after they mollywhopped the Sixers by 48 without their new addition, James Harden, isn't lost on me.
To that I counter:
<ul>
<li>You can only play who's in front of you.</li>
<li>Surely we're not pretending this Celtics group has been a beacon of health.</li>
<li>Even if you concede that they've gotten some&nbsp;injury luck, particularly in early/mid January, there are still structural things to be excited about with this team.</li>
</ul>
This is why the East should be on notice.
THE JAYS ARE ROLLING
Kinda has to start here, right?&nbsp;
A large part of the offensive clunkiness has boiled down to these two. Jayson Tatum went the first couple months of the season missing more jumpers than an abandoned trampoline park. Jaylen Brown staked his claim as the best Celtic early on, but tunnel vision still happened to hit him at inopportune times.
It was an odd problem; both players were good enough to be the focal point of defensive game plans, and both struggled to lift the guys around them &mdash; including each other. The flashbulb moment came when Marcus Smart (more on him later) essentially called them out for <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32530325/marcus-smart-calls-jayson-tatum-jaylen-brown-pass-ball-celtics-lose-third-straight" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not being willing ball-movers</a>.&nbsp;
<blockquote>
"Every team knows we're trying to go to Jayson and Jaylen," Smart said after the 128-114 loss to the Bulls. "Every team is programmed and studied to stop Jayson and Jaylen. I think everybody's scouting report is to make those guys pass the ball. They don't want to pass the ball."
</blockquote>
He did express optimism toward the end, capping his thoughts with this:
<blockquote>
"That's something that they're going to learn," Smart said. "They're still learning. We're proud of the progress they're making, but they're going to have to make another step and find ways to not only create for themselves but create for others on this team to open up the court for them later down in the game. It's something we've been asking them to do, and they're learning. We just gotta continue to help those guys do that to help our team."
</blockquote>
But the message was clear: we're not going to hit our level unless we can work together.
To that point, there's been a commitment to unselfishness by The Jays and&nbsp;a better environment being fostered by those around them. As my co-host Steve Jones Jr. has pointed out on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dunker-spot/id1547857052" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot</a>, the Celtics are doing a better job of leveraging their talents together to grease the wheels of the offense.
Sets like this have become more frequent.
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Smart sets <a href="https://medium.com/thebasketballactiondictionary/ram-13a8dc5f8f4e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a ram screen</a> for Al Horford, who then ghosts a screen for Tatum. With Julius Randle in a drop, that's a shot (or a pump-and-drive) for Horford if he wants it. Instead, the Celtics flow into an empty corner handoff with Brown to put further strain on the defense. RJ Barrett provides help at the nail, so Brown kicks it to Tatum. With Barrett off-balance on the recovery, Tatum is able to drive by and get a layup.
Another fave of mine: a Double Drag look with Brown or Tatum as the popper. Depending on the coverage, it either allows them to dictate a switch, or open up something with the roll man (Robert Williams III, Horford) since helping off of Tatum or Brown is typically a bad idea.
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Individually, we've seen passing growth from the Jays. Tatum is starting to thread the needle between being patient and decisive. He's slowing up enough to engage the big more in pick-and-roll, but firing darts outside if extra help appears. He's leading the Celtics in three-point assists (54) by a wide margin in 2022.
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For Brown, he's leveraging his scoring gravity to create open looks. He's more comfortable making interior reads right now &mdash; 51 two-point assists (34 at the rim), 35 three-point assists in 2022 &mdash; but that's okay. That his comfort and willingness (<a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/passing/?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;TeamID=1610612738&amp;sort=POTENTIAL_AST&amp;dir=1&amp;DateTo=12%2F31%2F2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5.5 potential assists</a> through Dec.31, <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/passing/?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;TeamID=1610612738&amp;sort=POTENTIAL_AST&amp;dir=1&amp;DateFrom=01%2F01%2F2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7.2 in 2022</a>) are growing is all that matters.
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THE GAP FILLERS
It would be one thing if Smart simply called for more ball movement earlier in the year. The (valid) criticism has aged well because he's taken more of that responsibility into his own hands.
He's done it in the traditional sense, using ball screens early in the clock to get downhill and get the defense scrambling. Smart has long been an underrated passer, so shifting him from off-ball spacer to tip of the spear has been productive.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The Celtics are generating nearly 1.03 points per possession on trips that feature a Smart-led pick-and-roll in 2022 &mdash; a mark sandwiched between Devin Booker (1.03) and Darius Garland (1.01 PPP), per Second Spectrum.
What's fun is the inverse; that number rises to 1.23 (!!!) on possessions featuring Smart as a screener. That is the best mark in the NBA among 164 players that have set at least 75 picks this year. He's a rugged dude that can spring The Jays free or help them get mismatches, but he's also a good enough playmaker to make things click as a short-roll threat.
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Employing a similarly versatile skill set is newcomer Derrick White. The longtime Spur has fit in nicely so far, averaging 13-4-3 through three games as an overqualified sub.
He can kick off possessions with ball screens and create for himself or others. Off the ball, he can find cracks to attack as a cutter. He doesn't mind being used as a (ghost) screener.&nbsp;
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Robert Williams III has been a godsend for this Celtics group. He's their best athlete, making him a tremendous roll threat or offensive glass cleaner when he's locked in. Beyond that, Williams operates as a connector in Boston's half-court attack.
He isn't just a hand-it-off-to-the-top-dawg placeholder; the Celtics legitimately use him as a hub in Delay or Elbow sets. He's one of the league's best passers from the center position, opening the door for half-court randomness when necessary. And friends, the short-roll playmaking is coming along.
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Similar things can be said about Al Horford, sporting north of a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio since the year began. He toggles between roles: an elbow hub out of HORNS on one possession, a pick-and-popper on the next, then a pure spacer in the corner while his teammates get busy.&nbsp;
His on-ball usage has decreased as of late; after averaging <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches/?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;TeamID=1610612738&amp;sort=FRONT_CT_TOUCHES&amp;dir=1&amp;DateTo=12%2F31%2F2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nearly 12 more frontcourt touches</a> per game than Williams through December 31 (34.2 to 22.4), Williams has <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches/?Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;TeamID=1610612738&amp;sort=FRONT_CT_TOUCHES&amp;dir=1&amp;DateFrom=01%2F01%2F2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">usurped him in 2022</a> (26.1 to 25.8). But the beauty of Horford is that he can scale up when necessary.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
FLIPPING THE SWITCH
Alas, there's the defense &mdash; the lone constant of this group as they tried to find themselves.&nbsp;
To restate things from earlier, they have the best defense (100.4 defensive rating) by a wide margin in 2022. During this nine-game winning streak, that number has dropped to 95.5. If you want to go old school, they've held their opponents under 100 points in seven of their last nine games.
Scheme-wise, this is a switchy unit. They switch 26.9 picks per 100 possessions, the second-highest rate in the league behind the Miami Heat (27.2), per Second Spectrum. And on possessions featuring a Celtics switch in 2022, opponents are scoring just 79 points per 100 poss- SEVENTY-NINE POINTS PER 100 POSSESSIONS.
Between the Smart/Brown/Tatum triumvirate, the Celtics have three players who can defend up and down the positional scale. Horford has been surprisingly steady in space, and Williams has some fun tape in that regard. The other Williams, Grant, has been defending at a high level for most of the season too. Adding White to this group gives the Celtics a terrifying top-seven.
It's a unique blend of athleticism, length, strength and IQ. To the latter point, one of the joys of this team is watching them navigate mismatches. If, by some chance, you get them in a matchup they don't like, they're able to scram-switch their way out of it, or shrink the floor and dare you to beat them with skip passes.
Peep the early scram-switch here from Smart:
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Got the Payton Pritchard-on-Tobias Harris switch? No problem. You aren't getting a clean look.
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That's a pretty aggressive pinch on Harris, which highlights another strong suit of the Celtics: they absolutely strangle your half-court attack if you have a non-shooter on the perimeter.
Tatum is fine with helping at the nail because he doesn't fear Shake Milton from deep. White is tasked with "splitting the difference" between Milton and Matisse Thybulle, but sinks to pick up Paul Reed once Daniel Theis leaves to contest the shot because Thybulle doesn't scare anyone either.
Both Tatum and Smart thrive as off-ball roamers if they're "defending" a non-shooter. As The Ringer's <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kevin O'Connor</a> pointed out <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/2/14/22932897/james-harden-ben-simmons-trade-76ers-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in a recent piece</a>, they've experimented with Williams III doing the same thing.
This is a team that keeps the initial action in front. If it isn't a switch, they're going to be in drop. They've blitzed 13 screens in 2022, the lowest figure in the NBA. If they're going to send an extra guy to the ball, they're going to do it on their terms.
There are things to keep an eye on with this Celtics team. The ball and body movement has improved, but you won't confuse their half-court attack with the Suns'. Things can still bog down for them in fourth quarters.
Zooming out, the Celtics aren't stocked with great shooters. If all else fails, opponents can still attempt to muck things up for the Jays and dare The Others &mdash; Smart, White, WIlliams, Horford &mdash; to beat them from deep.
But for now, this a team that's humming &mdash; figuring things out offensively and restricting airspace defensively. Ultimately, they're a team other East contenders should start keeping tabs on.
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Nekias Duncan breaks down the Boston Celtics' hot run in 2022, and why they've been so effective on both ends.

The Celtics are humming, and East contenders should keep tabs on them

It&rsquo;s been almost a given in NBA circles that the Celtics&nbsp;will move Dennis Schroder to get under the luxury tax, and while that remains the most likely outcome, we&rsquo;re hearing it&rsquo;s possible he could still be on the club after Thursday.
A couple of NBA clubs that have looked into Schroder have found that the Celtics aren&rsquo;t just looking to give him away...
The feeling here is that if Boston can get something at all reasonable for Schroder, they&rsquo;re comfortable replacing his minutes at the point with Payton Pritchard and Josh Richardson &mdash; though at least some there would like to keep Schroder in case of injury to someone higher in the rotation.
SOURCE: <a href="https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/dennis-schroder-nba-trade-rumors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com</a>
ANALYSIS: With Jaylen Brown's cap number decreasing after he missed the All-Star Game, it'll be easier for the Celtics to get under the luxury tax, <a href="https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/dennis-schroder-nba-trade-rumors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a> Bulpett. Boston just needs to cut "less than $1 million" to get there, so they have some options and don't necessarily need to trade Schroder.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been playing well, and he&rsquo;s been a good part of what they&rsquo;re doing lately,&rdquo; one NBA exec <a href="https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/dennis-schroder-nba-trade-rumors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said of Schroder</a>. &ldquo;I still think they might prefer to move him, but now they&rsquo;re looking for an asset in return. They don&rsquo;t feel like they have to trade him now, and they&rsquo;d like to turn him into an asset for next year.&rdquo;
The <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10026215-celtics-trade-rumors-dennis-schroder-talks-held-with-bucks-donte-divincenzo-linked" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Milwaukee Bucks</a>, <a href="https://www.actionnetwork.com/nba/nba-trade-deadline-rumors-intel-james-harden-ben-simmons-harrison-barnes-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago Bulls</a> and <a href="https://theathletic.com/3117052/2022/02/08/milwaukee-bucks-pursuing-celtics-grant-williams-what-im-hearing-about-the-nba-trade-deadline/?source=nbatw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleveland Cavaliers</a> are among the teams that have reportedly expressed interest in Schroder. The Cavs have continued to pursue Schroder even after acquiring Caris LeVert, reports <a href="https://theathletic.com/3117052/2022/02/08/milwaukee-bucks-pursuing-celtics-grant-williams-what-im-hearing-about-the-nba-trade-deadline/?source=nbatw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jared Weiss of The Athletic</a>.
Milwaukee is <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10026215-celtics-trade-rumors-dennis-schroder-talks-held-with-bucks-donte-divincenzo-linked" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> offering Donte DiVincenzo, Chicago is <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2953006-trade-deadline-intel-wizards-among-nbas-most-active-shoppers-eyeing-sabonis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> proposing Troy Brown Jr. and a second-round pick, while Cleveland is <a href="https://theathletic.com/3117052/2022/02/08/milwaukee-bucks-pursuing-celtics-grant-williams-what-im-hearing-about-the-nba-trade-deadline/?source=nbatw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> dangling two of Kevin Pangos, Ed Davis and Dylan Windler (plus draft compensation).
This season, Schroder is averaging 14.4 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 1.4 threes and 0.9 steals in 29.5 minutes per game, while shooting 43.8% from the field, 34.9% from three and 84.6% from the free-throw line.
Last offseason, the 28-year-old signed a one-year, $5.9 million deal with the Celtics &mdash; just months after turning down a four-year, $84 million extension with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Boston is currently 31-25, which is the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics have the NBA's third-best defense (allowing 103.3 points per 100 possessions) and 16th-best offense (scoring 108.0 points per 100 possessions).
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The Bucks, Bulls and Cavaliers are among the teams that have reportedly expressed interest in Schroder.

Bucks, Bulls, Cavs want Dennis Schroder, but Celtics may keep him?

It's #DeadlineSZN in the NBA, which opens up the possibility of a host of players -- ranging in role and status -- could be on the move.&nbsp;
The big names are well known: Ben Simmons* and James Harden*, CJ McCollum, Jerami Grant, Domantas Sabonis and others have seen their name tossed around the rumor mill. As fun as those guys are to track, it's generally the under-the-radar names that swing things in terms of mid-season deals.
A prime candidate for this distinction is Magic guard Gary Harris. Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer dropped this nugget in his latest intel piece:
<blockquote>
League personnel expect Orlando will find a new home for Terrence Ross in a similar deal structure that saw the Magic part with Evan Fournier for two second-round picks last season. Meanwhile, Gary Harris has been painted as a potential buyout candidate if he is not moved.
</blockquote>
Harris originally made hay as an off-ball merchant in Denver -- flying down the court in transition, knocking down triples, and back-cutting unsuspecting defenders for buckets -- while doubling as a sturdy on-ball defender. His 2017-18 campaign -- 17.5 points (55/40/83 splits), 1.8 steals -- firmly cemented him as one of the best young two-way guards in the sport.
Injuries and a sputtering shot -- he converted 33.7% of his threes on 3.9 attempts over the next three seasons -- led to a decline in prominence in Denver and the eventual trade to Orlando (as part of the Aaron Gordon trade).
Harris has bounced back a bit this season, averaging 11.6 points (51/38/84 splits) in a shade under 30 minutes. He can still get loose off the ball, and has shown some springiness when attacking closeouts.
He isn't the same guy defensively. Once a sticky point-of-attack guy, physical decline has made screen navigation more of a chore for him. His pick-and-roll film is littered with late/peel switches after losing contact with the ball-handler.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing; it just means expectations need to be realistic.
He remains active as a help defender, makes solid off-ball reads, and has experience punching above his weight class on switches. Even at the point-of-attack, he's fine against non-elite ball-handlers and can still flow between pressing the handle and dropping back to give a cushion.
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There's utility for Harris in a scheme that doesn't make his screen navigation the end-all, be-all -- think a two-to-the-ball scheme like Minnesota or Milwaukee, or a heavy switching style like the Celtics or Clippers employ.
BUYOUT CANDIDATES
You know who's a hand-in-glove fit for what Harris provides on both ends? The Denver Nuggets.
He established great handoff and random-nonsense chemistry with Nikola Jokic earlier in his career; the Harris-Jokic handoff generated over 1.08 points per possession during the 2017-18 campaign, per Second Spectrum. His shooting and cutting would be welcomed to that injured guard room.
The Celtics have been trying to get consistent production from their backup guards/wings all season long. Peyton Pritchard, Romeo Langford, and Aaron Nesmith have all taken turns showing flashes; a vet like Harris could help solidify that spot.&nbsp;
The Lakers could use ... just about all the help they can get in the backcourt. With their half-court attack being built around the interior (or mid-post) play of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, having Harris as a spacer or cutter in some of their more intricate sets could be a solid fit.
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li>The Raptors need a ball-handler more than anything, but Gary Trent Jr. is their only (movement) shooter. There's room for Harris, if for no other reason than the Raptors' 6.5-man rotation.</li>
<li>The Cavs just made a swing with the Caris LeVert deal, but it'd be fun to watch Harris play off of Evan Mobley in the high post.</li>
<li>The Nets desperately need shooters, especially in light of Joe Harris potentially needing a second surgery. If Paul Millsap ends up getting bought out, Harris could take that roster spot pretty easily.</li>
</ul>

Nekias Duncan breaks down potential landing spots for Magic guard Gary Harris.