#1 – Call your team, the Jay’s are back
Slowly but surely, the synergy between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum is coming back. There hasn’t been a big highlight with an alley-oop yet, but some plays are showing that they can both be so impactful together.
This pick-and-roll manipulation from Tatum with Luka Garza’s screen breaks the Suns’ defensive shell and, despite having three players in front of him, JT finds JB in the corner. The defense collapses even more, Brown swings it to Garza, and that’s an easy one.
Over Jaylen Brown’s six assists,
three were for Jayson Tatum. Having JT pass away from JB, with all his improvement in reading two-vs-one situations, is just too much to handle for the defense.
Because JT isn’t just a regular shooter next to JB. If the defense closes too hard, or sends two players by mistake, he can already drive and make sure to use the gap in the defense to capitalize on JB’s first drive.
Both Jay’s had a great night against a fierce defense, and it all started with Brown’s willingness to get to the line no matter what.
#2 – Brown energy shifted early
At the end of the first quarter, Jaylen Brown had made just one field goal, yet he was up to 11 points. The Celtics’ leading scorer quickly understood that the calls would be made last night, so he drove to the rim. Relentlessly.
This level of aggression was particularly oriented towards Jalen Green, probably one of the worst defenders among the Phoenix Suns’ core rotation. The 2024 Finals MVP went at this mismatch, forced great positions for himself in the post, and just went after the former Rocket.
This most impressive drive came a little later and was concluded by a beautiful pass to Pritchard, who swung it to Baylor Scheierman for a corner three. With great gravity comes great responsibility, and Brown is showing how much he has learned to deal with the space he creates for his teammates.
As he kept on driving, Jaylen finished with 41 points, 21 free-throw attempts, and well-deserved MVP chants that echoed with the chants he got in South Boston a couple of days ago.
#3 – Tatum versatility
Who wouldn’t dream of a player who can play both the ball-handler and the roll man in a pick-and-roll situation? Well, the Celtics have him, and he is just getting started.
On this first bucket from the Celtics, Neemias Queta plays the roll man and sets a beautiful flare screen for Tatum, who uses his speed with the ball. His gravity forces a second defender to help, and he finds the Portuguese big man on the roll. Well done.
A few possessions later, Tatum becomes the screener in the pick-and-roll. His screen quality creates a switch, and he gets the mismatch he was looking for. He traps the defender on his back before getting the ball, rolls to the rim, and that’s a layup.
Two buckets at the rim he generated, once as a ball-handler, once as a roll man. It doesn’t get much better than that.
#4 – Derrick White’s Celtics
When the second quarter started, both Jaylen and Jayson were sitting on the bench, leaving the creation to White. And you know what? He scored 13 of the first 16 points in that quarter. It all started with a good old pull-up from three above a mismatch created by Queta’s screen.
Then, the Celtics use Queta as a ball-handler to put pressure on the Suns’ off-ball defense. As the big man gets the ball, Sam Hauser sets a slip screen for White. His quick cut to the rim attracts two defenders with him, and there you go, an open three for the Defensive Player of the Month.
On the next play, he is off-ball while Scheierman and Hauser go into a two-man action. The drive and Queta’s cut create an imbalance in the Suns’ defense, and guess who is open for three again?
The last play of that run might be my favorite. The Celtics are in a horns situation with the ball in Queta’s hands again. White goes to the ball for a handoff, and in the meantime, Brown cuts to the rim. These movements create space for White as Brown seals his defender on his back.
A wonderful display of how the Celtics can have a lot of different approaches on offense. And if you look closely, Neemias Queta is one of the reasons why.
#5 – Queta the hub
How do you trick a defense that loves to put a lot of pressure on the ball-handler with their wings? You put the ball into your center’s hands – and pray he can execute. Great news for the Celtics: Neemias Queta keeps showing promise as a passer. Last night, he finished with a team-high 6 assists in 33 minutes.
This play above, and the one we looked at earlier in this article with Derrick White’s off-ball movement, are clear indicators that the Celtics’ coaching staff is confident relying on Neemias to have the ball in his hands and on his decision-making to make the right play when needed. That development is great for the Celtics, who can play some 5-out offense even with him on the court.
#6 – No center, no problem?
To close the second quarter, the Celtics went small-ball with Jayson Tatum as their tallest player (not their center, just the tallest guy out there). The reason I emphasize that he is not a center is because the Celtics use that lineup to really spread the floor as much as possible, and it created chaos in the Suns’ defense.
On the play below, Phoenix players look a bit lost. White cuts, and JT finds him with a gorgeous pass in the paint. Pritchard sees it and cuts right away for an easy layup. No center, more space, more speed to attack the rim.
The Celtics used off-ball gravity to run plays where the movement freezes the defense so Brown can keep driving with as much space as needed.
But no center also means a lot less rim protection, and the Suns quickly figured it out with high pick-and-rolls to stretch the Celtics’ defense early in the rotation.
What the Celtics gained on offense with that lineup, they lost on defense, and the score remained pretty even during this stretch.
#7 – The Suns tried to avoid half-court situations
What stood out pretty early was that the Suns were here to steal the ball and run as fast as possible. Before the game, Jordan Ott told us he preferred to avoid having to attack the Celtics in half-court situations as much as possible. So, to do so, they went for the ball aggressively.
Overall, they succeeded with 13 forced turnovers, but it wasn’t enough to win it all. Plus, contrary to the previous game, the Celtics were very disciplined in transition defense and allowed only 1 point per possession in transition.
#8 – The possession battle
Before the game, Jordan Ott mentioned that the Celtics had 15 more possessions than the Suns in their last matchup, and that was something he wanted to fix.
Well, the Suns definitely came prepared and were able to win the possession battle thanks to turnovers but also far better box-outs. After allowing 22 offensive rebounds the last time they faced Boston, the Celtics only got 7 extra chances tonight, leading to a much closer game.
That was a rare occasion where the Celtics lost the possession battle and still won the game, showing the gap in talent between the Suns and the Celtics, especially with Jayson Tatum back in the roster.
#9 – The Celtics were okay giving mid-range shots
It felt like Joe Mazzulla and the coaching staff wanted the Phoenix Suns to have those mid-range opportunities. With 20% of their shots attempted between 14 feet and the three-point line, the Suns were forced (or invited?) to shoot from the middy a lot. What might not have been expected was how efficient they would be from that zone.
Indeed, on average this season, the Suns are making 42.6% of their long mid-range shots – last night, it was up to 58.8%! That shooting variance allowed Booker and his teammates to stay in the game despite the Celtics taking away the rim, with only 14 shots allowed in that zone.
So, when clutch time arrived, the Celtics wanted to make sure they weren’t leaving the game result in the hands of lady variance.
#10 – Until they were not
As Nik breaks down for us in the post below, the Celtics changed their coverage in the final minutes to take the ball away from Devin Booker. Instead of the usual drop, they switched and even doubled him, leaving the weakside corner open and making sure the decision would have to be made under pressure.
A great adaptation in the final minutes of the game, where every bucket matters. Overall, it made sense to leave the pull-up mid-range shots open because it invites players to take inefficient shots that don’t generate fouls and lack collective synergy. Booker almost won it from the middy, but the Celtics closed that zone right when they needed to.”
