The 76ers are removed from an ideal group, however they do have a luxurious few groups in NBA historical past have had.
That’s, after they lose the NBA’s scoring champion to damage, they’ll flip to a former scoring champion to assist fill the void.
James Harden reminded everybody Monday night time that he does, actually, nonetheless have it. Harden exploded for 45 factors, on 17-of-30 capturing, powering the 76ers to a 119-115 win over the Celtics in Sport 1 of the Jap Convention semifinals.
As soon as he got here in strolling like this, you had a sense it may be a protracted night time for the Celtics.
Harden received wherever he wished, and scored in quite a lot of methods, however the bulk of his injury got here within the pick-and-roll with Paul Reed, P.J. Tucker and different Sixers.
Give Doc Rivers, Harden and the 76ers credit score. That they had a strategically sound recreation plan and executed it extraordinarily properly, and Harden burned Boston over and time and again. It felt like Trae Younger Sport 5 2.0.
“Defensively, I don’t assume they felt us,” Al Horford stated.
That’s for positive.
The Celtics must rapidly put Sport 1 behind them. In the event that they don’t, they usually drop Sport 2, their season could possibly be over fairly quickly.
On the identical time, they should study from Monday’s debacle to verify it doesn’t occur once more. Harden is a transcendent offensive participant, and he’s going to get his, however the pick-and-roll merely can’t work that excessive a share of the time.
So how ought to Boston defend it? Nicely, it is determined by the specifics of the play, however there are three guidelines the Celtics ought to typically comply with: 1) don’t swap only for the sake of switching; 2) if they’ve to modify, swap aggressively, and talk; 3) as soon as the swap occurs, play method up, anticipate the stepback to the suitable, assistance on the drive and rotate accordingly.
Let’s take a look at some examples:
On this one, Sensible shouldn’t have robotically assumed Horford would assist. Simply because he sticks his arm out and indicators to Horford, it doesn’t imply he can nonchalantly stand behind the display.
As an alternative, he ought to have dedicated to going beneath the display, prevented Harden from taking a 3 and then anticipated assist from Horford. Horford wanted to step up and make life no less than reasonably troublesome for Harden, fairly than keep again and fear concerning the Reed roll. No disrespect to Reed, who had a fantastic recreation, however the Celtics need him capturing as a lot as potential.
On this one, Jalen McDaniels units the display. Malcolm Brogdon does the suitable factor and sneaks round it to stop Harden from launching a step-back 3. However, Robert Williams backpedals and is on his heels. As an alternative, he ought to have gotten in Harden’s airspace and made him go.
“It’s nearly choosing up our strain and attempting to make folks uncomfortable,” Tatum stated.
Nobody else is open right here, so Harden needed to shoot. Williams ought to have made it harder so it wasn’t all on Brogdon. Jayson Tatum then might have rotated to cowl McDaniels, and Brown might have watched Tucker within the nook. Credit score to Harden for making yet one more powerful shot.
This one might need been probably the most telling of the night time. The Celtics have their greatest defender in Sensible on Harden, and Sensible makes the suitable determination by going over to change his path.
Harden calmly brushes him apart, goes to the step-back and fires away. Look carefully at Sensible’s physique language. Harden could have gotten away with a slight push-off, however the refs weren’t going to name it. Sensible must anticipate that stepback and make him a driver.
Give Tucker credit score right here as properly. He’s a wonderful screener, and the Sixers executed it to perfection. On the identical time, Jaylen Brown was too nonchalant and didn’t struggle arduous sufficient to get round it. As soon as Horford sees Brown is beat, he must step up. Initially, no, however at that time, sure.
Final however not least, the shot of the night time. This one wasn’t a pick-and-roll, however the story is identical. No disrespect to Al Horford, who’s an excellent defender and had a stable all-around recreation, however he simply can’t guard Harden 1-on-1 when he’s feeling it. Few guys can, however Horford positively can’t.
The Celtics shouldn’t have let that swap occur. As soon as it did, they need to have despatched assist and made another person beat them. The Sixers have succesful shot-makers, however the man with 42 shouldn’t be getting that simple of a glance with the sport on the road.
“It’s an excellent studying expertise for me and understanding how I might deal with it subsequent time if I’m in that place,” Horford stated.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla famous that doubling Harden early received the 76ers some open 3s, then Harden hit the large shot over the swap to win it.
“Hindsight is all the time 20-20,” Mazzulla stated.
So, to sum up right here:
- Harden is extraordinarily proficient. He’s going to get his.
- It shouldn’t come that simply. The Celtics must make him a driver and a passer.
- As soon as the decide comes, if Brown, Tatum, Sensible, Brogdon, Derrick White or Grant Williams is on him, aggressively discover a path again to the ball.
- If they’ll’t get across the display and alter the stepback, then as a final resort, ship Horford to the ball. If that occurs, attempt to ship extra assist and let another person beat you, then additionally attempt to talk and rotate to stop open 3’s.
- One other workaround is that after the Celtics see the screener heading towards Harden, they’ll swap proactively and have another person tag alongside fairly than Horford.
- So long as Joel Embiid is out, contemplate going small with a Sensible-White-Brogdon-Brown-Tatum switch-everything lineup.
Harden is nice. We already knew that, however he reminded us Monday night time. However he shouldn’t completely dominate the way in which he did in Sport 1. The Celtics must play protection the way in which they know the way – after they had been at their greatest final yr – and determine how one can hold him in examine.
Embiid or no Embiid, that is very a lot a sequence, and shifting to Sport 2, no adjustment is extra urgent than the stymying Harden decide and roll.
“He’s a fantastic participant, he makes powerful pictures,” Brogdon stated, “however he can’t have the sport he had.”