Photo: Kevin Jairaj – USA TODAY Sports
That's it, everyone!
The Celtics are 3-0 up on the Mavericks and one game away from Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford winning championship rings, and Anna Horford, if that's even possible, is going to be even more insufferable.
How did Boston get to this point? Let's start by going back to 2016.
Brown scored over 30 points in the NBA Finals, while Ben Simmons Fortnite.
So let’s take a look at the 2017 draft.
Tatum is a five-time All-Star, but Markelle Fultz has forgotten how to shoot the ball.
That's the point. The Celtics got two superstars in the draft, but the 66ers' two first-round picks didn't work out. Sure, Ben was good for a few years, but he was only good enough as an offensive dunker in the fourth quarter of the playoffs. Tatum and Brown combined for 31 points in the second half of Game 3 on Wednesday night.
A lot of the complicated process debate starts and ends here. The Celtics drafted two guys and the Sixers didn't. Then Boston found two good perimeter players in July Holiday and Derrick White, added a couple veterans (Horford, Porzingis) and is trying to win a championship ring. The Sixers are chasing all this time because the nucleus of Embiid, Simmons and Fultz never formed, resulting in a rotation of James Harden, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and other guys who just can't get the job done.
Another thing about playoff basketball is that it's a half-court, perimeter game, especially late in the game. Look at how the Celtics scored in the second half of Game 3.
Boston's half-court offense often has five guys. They do some mid-pick-and-rolls, they get guys to the dunking spot, they run some isolations, drive-and-kick sequences, but they're comfortable putting everybody on the 3-point line and making these guys play. They can all shoot 3-pointers. Holiday and White are shooting 40% in the playoffs right now, Horford and Hauser are shooting 35%, and Tatum is the only one below 30%. But with Tatum, Brown, Holiday and White, you have four bona fide perimeter stars. Tatum and Brown are 6'8″ and 6'6″, big enough to post up against mismatches and duck in against Dallas' guards.
The play that proved devastating for the Celtics was a simple high pick-and-roll with White screening Brown.
Brown ended up shooting right over his defender. This is playoff basketball: creating and making big shots in the half court. It's all about ball handling, perimeter play, identifying and exploiting mismatches. And that's just one half of the court. Boston has a roster full of great defenders who can do everything in their own half.
This question continues to haunt me –
If a miraculously healthy Embiid were to play in the future, would his style of play fit the current zeitgeist of playoff basketball? Would he score consistently or would his scoring fade as the playoffs progress? Would Tyrese Maxey reach the level of the Boston star? I really don't know. Embiid scored 50 points and made 19 free throws against the Knicks, but was an exceptional 5/7 3-pointer. But in 67 playoff games, he's only scored 30 or more points without shooting 10 or more free throws four times. When it comes down to the meat of the playoffs, will Joel Embiid have the ball in his hands and play clean on a regular basis? He's not the type to handle the ball in the pick-and-roll, or get around opponents on the dribble. That bothers me. I don't think his game is optimal for playoff basketball in the fourth quarter against big teams.
