Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat 2/11/2024

Game Breakdown

Celtics - 110-106 W

• White, Brown, Tatum, Holiday, Porzingis

  • First possession is exactly what I personally want to see from Celtics offense

    • Hit short roll, attacks the lane, kickout to KP, he one more pass to Tatum and now Tatum is attacking a scrambled defense downhill for a layup

    • Get mid post isolations the next 2 possessions (misses)

  • Continue to just absolutely love the creativity of their defensive matchups

    • Holiday guarding Bam for stretches of this game

    • Always searching for a “non shooter” for KP to guard so he can be that roaming rim protector 

  • It has to be frustrating playing against 2 defenders like White and Holiday who make your life miserable and then still have to worry about a rim protector behind them like KP

• WHITE impact has been ALL OVER the start of this game

  • Attacking the lane with the ball, cuts into the lane off the ball which collapses the defense AND already got a blocked shot recovering on the ball

  • Best guard shot blocker in the NBA?

• TATUM is being pretty aggressive with downhill drives in the 1st quarter and I love it

  • He did have some just ridiculous jump shot making off the bounce and over contests

    • From 2P and 3P

  • HE HAS BEEN AWESOME

    • Mixing the tough pull up jump shooting with still attacking the rim off the bounce

• PORZINGIS ability to PnP but also take advantage of mismatches in the post makes him a tough guard

  • Also catching lobs providing some rim gravity

  • Just really like the versatility he can provide on the offensive end

• HORFORD continues to make me a little nervous in terms of how much he has left

  • How much can Tillman make up for this?

  • I WILL SAY, he came up with some really impactful defensive plays in the 2nd half

Heat

• Rozier, Herro, Jaquez, Martin, Bam

  • HEAT are 28th in the NBA in PACE BUT every time I watch them I feel like they are opportunistic and efficient with their chances to get out in transition

    • PPP does NOT back this up, great example where my “eye test” is complete contradiction to what the “numbers” say and in this example I would say you almost have to trust the numbers

  • Settling for a lot of 3PAs early in this game without much pressuring of the paint/rim

  • Some of the most aggressive pressing possessions I have seen from teams this season

• ROZIER is getting to spots but just is not able to finish

  • 35% FGA, 23% 3PA BUT has an incredible ASST:TO Ratio through 10 games played

• HIGHSMITH making some very impactful plays offensively and defensively

• BAM defensive mobility and versatility is really impressive

  • Watching so many teams struggle to guard PnP with floor stretching bigs makes you appreciate his ability to defend the ball screen but then change direction and recover to the pop

  • Has a just ridiculous weakside rotate and block 

  • Really like him when he is being aggressive in that mid range and short roll situations

• HERRO struggling to make shots here in the mid 3rd BUT I think his process has been good AND he actually has done some nice things off the bounce and with his passing

  • Stays with it and gets it going in the mid 3rd

  • Getting to 10-15 feet and hitting floaters or pull up jumpers

  • Really good 2nd half scoring the basketball

• ROBINSON does a really nice job using his shooting gravity to find opportunities inside the 3P line

  • Most 3PA of his career by 3x this season (56%)

• JAQUEZ was fine in this one but not quite the same impact of some of the previous games I have watched

• LOVE filling in admirably at the backup center spot

  • Can pressure the defense with his floor spacing and does a really nice job keeping the ball moving