Starting and finishing the second half to reach the 30-minute mark for the first time as a Celtic, the 35-year-old Nikola Vučević found himself in unfamiliar territory.
Vooch was part of a clutch time win in the playoffs.
“It’s what you want to do as a professional athlete: Be in these moments, be in big games, be able to deliver for your teammates,” he said. “So, it was a good win, but now we’re on to the next one.”
One more win in this series would match Vučević’s postseason wins for his career before
joining the Celtics, but his last win to technically reach the clutch time 5-under-5 threshold came in 2022, when the Bulls led by five with 18 seconds to go against the Milwaukee Bucks. Prior to that, he played in a true back-and-forth clutch game in 2019, when Orlando upset the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the first round before losing four straight to the eventual champions.
The unfamiliarity isn’t in the fact that he reached those clutch opportunities; it’s that, for the first time in his NBA career, it’s with a team that’s expected to win those games. And since he was acquired at the trade deadline, he’s been expected to play a part in reaching those expectations.
With Neemias Queta starting the game in early foul trouble and finishing the night with four fouls in 13 minutes, it opened the door for Vučević to handle the bulk of the big man work load, finishing the night with a well-rounded statline of 11 points (4/10 shooting), 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.
“I thought Vooch stepped up for us big time tonight on both ends of the floor,” Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “Anybody we put in has a chance to help us win, so we’ve got to keep that going.”
In the fourth quarter, a corner three less than 90 seconds in and a drive and kick pass to an open Jayson Tatum for his first of two clutch threes played their part in the Game 3 victory.
Out of the gate in the third quarter, Boston ran a unique action to get Vooch involved in what would become a game he’d feature heavily in. With Maxey matched up on Sam Hauser, the Celtics worked him into an off-ball action, running an inverted pindown with Hauser setting a screen for Vooch to curl around. With Maxey left alone on the 6’9” big man, it forced Adem Bona to help, leaving an open kickout to Hauser for a tone-setting three out of the break.
It’s not an action you see often for the big man. What you will see is a heavy dose of pick-and-pop basketball, particularly with Andre Drummond as his matchup. In this game, Vučević was the shooter Philly often decided to play off of, leaving him unmanned on his pop outs, instead opting to keep Drummond closer to the paint, or outright committing to cutting off Tatum or Brown’s drives.
This first quarter three from Vooch is a good indication of the way Philly sold out to protect the paint. As Brown drives, he sees strong-side help from Maxey and from Drummond. It’s a smart kickout from JB, and the 76ers lived with these kinds of attempts all night.
Vooch made an impact offensively, but surprisingly, it was his defense that was the highlight of the night. While not a high bar to clear, it was by far Vooch’s best defensive outing in a Celtics uniform.
After a heavy dose of drop pick-and-roll coverage in Game 2 that dared the Sixers to beat them from the outside, the Celtics didn’t go completely away from the drop, but they mixed in more up-to-touch coverage, more off-ball stunts when they went with a drop, and an added wrinkle of more of ice coverage to push the ball away from the middle of the floor. With Vooch playing off the ice coverage, he handled his own, keeping the ball in front of him even with the risk of an open paint.
By funneling the ball to the side and forcing it away from the middle of the floor, it makes things easier on the off-ball defenders keeping track of where the ball goes next, and forces more baseline shot attempts or ball relocations.
Maxey had a few instances where his ability to pass and relocate gave Philadelphia a fresh look to reset and find better scoring avenues, but compared to Game 2, the Celtics did a better job making them work for the shots they wanted.
Credit should go to Vooch for his foot work and hands filling passing lanes during these iced screens, but it’s important to note the way Derrick White, Jordan Walsh and Brown all adjust their positioning and ride the back of the ballhandler to provide pressure from behind and in front of the ball.
This wasn’t the heroic, immortalizing performance that Vučević’s 15-year career has been missing, but it was a well-rounded effort at a crucial time.
