#1 Tatum guarding the big man

On Tuesday, the Boston Celtics ended their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers by switching up their defense and tasking Jayson Tatum with guarding the opposing big man. The defensive alteration was successful and helped the Celtics take control of the fourth quarter.

In their second straight game against the Cavaliers, Boston stuck with having Tatum guarding the opposing big. There are multiple reasons why having Tatum defending a screener makes sense, but the primary reason is so that when a switch occurs, no mismatch has been generated. Take the below play, for example.

Tatum starts the possession by guarding Jarrett Allen. He switches onto Darius Garland as a dribble hand-off occurs. Another DHO allows Tatum to switch onto Max Stus, who he then trails while clogging the passing lane (which is why he keeps his arm up.) While Tatum is operating as a trailing defender, Allen and Garland are dealing with Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, while Porzignis has sunk in from the corner. Now, any potential line to the rim is cut off.

So, in that whole play, there are three hand-offs and two screens, yet no advantage was created. Tatum’s ability to switch up and down makes him a serious defensive threat when he’s operating in a system like this.

#2 KP as the roamer

Part of having Tatum guarding the big man is that it also frees up the center to roam and offer weakside help defense. Positioning the center in a “roamer” role is something that became a fan-favorite during Ime Udoka’s tenure, where Robert William’s shot-blocking skills were put to great use. Joe Mazzulla leaned on that defensive principal at times throughout the game against Cleveland.

When watching the above clip, take note of where Porzingis is on the floor — he’s on the weak side, operating as the low man. As Garland penetrates and gets downhill, Porzingis rotates over. This clip doesn’t show a shot contest or a block, but the end result is indicative of the type of pressure a 7-foot big man can apply when charging you down as a help defender.

In Tuesday’s game against the Celtics, Cleveland found success attacking Porzingis on the drive and penetrating off the perimeter. By switching the big man into a roamer role, the Celtics had someone who could rotate over and defend the rim whenever the Cavaliers were able to break down the point-of-attack defense.

#3 Protecting the middle

“No Middle” is a common defensive strategy. Not just in the NBA but in basketball in general. You want to force ball-handlers and slashers to attack from unfavorable angles. Of course, as you face more talented players and teams, locking down the middle of the court becomes increasingly difficult.

The Celtics have been building good habits in this regard. They like to have their dropping big push up toward the nail and then have a wing defender on either elbow. That way, if the ball-handler penetrates, he’s got three defenders to deal with, two of which are pinching in and pressuring the dribble. In the below clip, we can see how that type of “no middle” defense can lead to mistakes or in this instance, a steal.

I left the dunk in there, too, because, OH MY.

#4 Gettin nerdy with it: Running action 

Porzingis is 7’2’’. In this play — which was an impressive ATO (after time out) — the Celtics use him like he’s a 6’9’’ wing. We would usually see this action run for Jaylen Brown, primarily due to his explosiveness.

The Celtics set a weakside stagger screen for Porzignis. He curls around both screens and begins to cut toward the rim. Jrue Holiday finds him while he’s on the move (this is known as a stampede cut), and Porzingis gets the easy finish around the rim. That’s the Unicorn for you. He can do things you just don’t expect from someone of his size.

I loved this play design. I loved the execution. And I loved seeing Porzingis being used in a way most people wouldn’t expect from a center. More of this, please.

#5 Making use of scoring gravity

Every player in the Celtics (core) eight-man rotation has scoring gravity. All of them can hit their shots from deep. All of them can attack closeouts and get to work in the mid-range or around the rim. That type of gravity ensures Boston has excellent perimeter spacing. So, sometimes, defenders are put in a bind. They will have to choose whether they’re going to double or stay home.

When those decisions are forced in a split second, it can lead to mistakes. Allen had one of those mistakes in the early exchanges against the Celtics, leading to a dunk from Brown.

Porzingis had set up to set up a back screen for Brown, only to ghost the contact and pop onto the perimeter. As Brown drives, Allen has two choices: he can either slide his feet and defend the driving, knowing Brown will likely find Porzingis on the perimeter, and there will be a scramble to close out on the shot. Or, he can recover to Porzignis and trust that Donovan Mitchell will dig and Garland will rotate over.

With how deep Allen has dropped, it’s clear that he’s providing nail help. Brown’s positioning and the fact he had Caris LeVert on his hip means Allen should really stay in front of him. Instead, Porzinigs’ scoring gravity is too much of a threat, so the Cavaliers’ big man opts to recover. Mitchell doesn’t dig; nobody rotates over. Easy bucket for Brown.

Every member of the Cavaliers’ defense was too concerned with guarding their man because all of them were high-level threats to drain their shot. As such, it was a defensive breakdown and an easy bucket for Boston. Scoring gravity can wreak havoc when defenses don’t talk.

#6 Winning the rebound battle

Boston won the rebounding battle 44-39. Tatum and Al Horford both had double-digit efforts on the boards. 13 of those 44 boards came on the offensive glass. The Celtics have put a significant onus on their ability to control the glass this season, and use their rebounding efforts to control the tempo of games.

Cleveland were missing Evan Mobley for both of their games against the Celtics. Whether Boston could have kept a similar level of control on the glass with Mobley in the rotation is certainly a fair debate. Nevertheless, the Celtics handled what was in front of them and proved why they’re a top-three rebounding team in the league at this juncture of the season.

#7 Gettin nerdy with it: Tatum adding drag dribbles

A major development in Tatum’s pick-and-roll game has been his addition of a drag dibble. This is also known as “dragging it out.” What this means is that after Tatum comes off the screen, he continues to dribble the ball around the perimeter toward a sideline.

The reason this is such a good development is because it forces the primary pick-and-roll defenders into a decision-making situation. Because of Tatum’s status as one of the best players in the league, both defenders will usually follow him, leaving the screener open to either spot-up or roll to the rim.

In the above clip, Tatum uses his drag dribble to draw two defenders, and then Boston makes perfect use of the advantage by swinging the ball around and drawing a defender out of position before making the next pass.

When watching, you will see Strus and Allen go with Tatum as he drags it out. Donovan Mitchell sprints up to guard Porzingis. So, Porzingis gets the pass to Holiday, who is open in the corner, which draws LeVert out of the dunker spot, leaving White open and ending in a bucket.

#8 Some Lamar Stevens minutes

The last time Lamar Stevens saw more than five minutes of playing time was against the Indiana Pacers on November 1. He played 6:56 in that game and has rarely seen meaningful minutes since. However, with Luke Kornet out of the rotation due to injury, Mazzulla turned toward Stevens to provide some additional energy and grit.

He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t bad, either. Stevens stayed in front of his man on defense, moved well on offense, and took open shots when they presented themselves. His performance was unlikely to have raised his chances of being a regular in the rotation, but he’s certainly good enough to be relied on when his number is called.

At 6’6’’, Stevens can be relied upon to switch up and down multiple positions on defense, provide physicality, and be a potential option when open and cutting to the rim.

#9 Another big Horford performance off the bench

7 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block: that was Horford’s statline off the bench. I’m not one to believe the box score tells the whole story. In fact, it barely gives you 50% of the story. However, when it comes to Horford’s impact, it’s a good starting point.

It’s a luxury to have someone of Horford’s talent level in that sixth-man role. He’s a team-first player who knows how to morph into whatever the team needs from him on a game-to-game basis. He’s a talented screener, can quarterback a defense, has added a corner three to his game, and knows how to space the floor — both on the perimeter and around the rim.

With Tatum defending the opposing big, Horford was tasked with being one of the “switch” defenders for the majority of his minutes. That didn’t phase him. He held his own on the perimeter and used angles to make up for any lack of foot speed.

Watch how Horford angles his body and stays connected to Garland on this block. It’s such a smart way of negating a speed deficit and is a big reason why Horford appears to be timeless in how he operates on the defensive end.

#10 Staying on track when the other team won’t go away

We know the score here. A winning position all through the game. The opponent doesn’t know when to quit. They keep chipping a way at the lead and pull close down the stretch. We’ve seen how that story plays out. Not this time, though. Rather than crumbling at the final hurdle, the Celtics stuck together. They executed on offense. They raised their level of defense. They dug deep. They fought.

This is progress. This is what we’ve been hoping to see. The next step is stringing multiple wins together when they’re in this situation. We’re still really early in the season, so this growth and the amount of room they have left to continue developing this mentality should be incredibly encouraging.

Looking ahead

The Orlando Magic are up next. The first game against them is on Friday, with the Celtics on the second night of a back-to-back. Then, Boston will face them in an early game on Sunday — This UK-based writer is happy about that.

Orlando has been a thorn in the Celtics side since last season. Boston has lost their last four games against the Magic. After two impressive and versatile performances against the Cavaliers, now is as good a time as any to be facing Orlando. Hopefully, the Celtics can throw out some curveballs and prove that the Magic don’t have their number. Luckily, we won’t have long to wait!

See you all tomorrow.