The Nets, who had lost both on the road in the first two games of the series, returned to G3 to face the Celtics at home. Unfortunately, they still failed to regain a city and fell into an absolute backwardness of 0 wins and 3 losses.
KDCan’t escape from Celtic’s net
The main reason why the Celtics were able to take the lead in grabbing the advantage of drawing cards is to effectively limit the play of the Nets duo Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and constantly use help defense and double-teaming to affect their hit rate, especially against KD, which made him a series of games. In the first two games, he made 13 of 41 shots, and the shooting percentage was only 31.7%.
In addition to basic double-teaming, low-level deny stealing or intense physical collisions in this game, what the Celtics did better than the previous two games was the pre-judgment of the offensive path. As in the video below, the first-line pair Although Jayson Tatum of KD made a breakthrough, Daniel Theis immediately filled his position at the basket, blocking KD’s path to the basket, causing him to make a mistake. In this game, Celtic constantly blocked KD’s attacking route through rotation and filling. In particular, Theis and Al Horford helped defend in time in the penalty area, allowing G2 to get 20 free throws. KD only had 2 times in this game. KD only made 11 shots in this game, which also hit a new low after joining the Nets. With almost no shots in the penalty area, KD’s threat was greatly weakened by Celtic.
Passing is selfless? Still hurting the team?
In the face of the targeted defense of the Green Shirts, KD’s play style has also been adjusted in this battle. When encountering a double-team, they no longer demand a shot, but use themselves as a bait to attract assistance and create space for teammates. For example, this wave of KD’s low-post singles, After being double-teamed by Jaylen Brown and Theis, the ball was sent out to Seth Curry, and then led to Bruce Brown in the corner for a Secondary Assist. KD sent out 8 times in this battle alone, which has already reached the sum of the first two battles in the series.
But KD’s transformation not only limited the team’s help, but also made Celtic happy. Because when KD holds the ball for less time, the offensive destructive power also declines, and at the same time, it means that teammates must shoulder more burdens. Bruce Brown, who had the most chances of touching the ball in this game, had the most shots of the team with 19 shots, but his handling of the ball was not satisfactory. Although there were occasional good shots in air cuts, throws and fast breaks, he had a good grasp on the outside. Low (2-for-7 from 3-point range) and 5 turnovers. It’s no wonder that Celtic is certainly more willing to let other Nets players play than KD.
Irving, who is too sticky and inefficient in scoring
As for Irving, the current situation is also not ideal. After the explosion of 39 points in G1, G2 and G3 averaged only 13 points, and the shooting percentage was 33.3%. The reason for Irving’s failure is that the Celtics sent Marcus Smart to watch over him, and Irving shot only 26.7% against Smart.
In addition, Irving’s excessive sticking to the ball may also be a problem. His average holding time per wave of possession increased from 4.30 seconds in the regular season to 4.72 seconds, while his average points per touch dropped from 0.339 to 0.226. Said he dribbled longer, but the scoring efficiency dropped significantly.
The more troubled he gets, the more Irving wants to turn the tide of the battle on his own, which makes his every move more predictable by opponents, and the less able he is to play good offense.
Offensive Mode More Team Tatummore mature
On the contrary, Jayson Tatum, who was always considered to be too sticky in the past, has improved in the playoffs this year, and his offensive model has become more integrated into the team. The game scored a game-best 39 points, but almost all of them were not scored by personal ability. Among the 13 goals hit, 3 goals came from fast breaks, 9 goals were assisted by teammates, and only 1 goal was personal. singles.
In addition, he also reported 6 assists in this game, half of which were as shown in the video below. After the P&R, the decline was coordinated, and the high and low positions were coordinated or scored. In fact, Tatum is very suitable for Rollman, because he not only has a strong finishing ability, and flexible foot changes, his passing vision is also underestimated. Tatum’s pick-and-roll also caused quite a bit of trouble for the Nets, making the Nets, which mainly rely on regional defense, into a dilemma of whether to help defense.
Experienced Frozen GriffinReason for deprecation
The Nets’ few bright spots in this battle may be veteran Blake Griffin. He was DNP by the coaching team in the first two games of the series. He finally got the opportunity to come off the bench in the third quarter of this battle. The ball also hit two outside shots in a row.
However, his biggest problem is still defensively, and the video below (2:15-3:00) is a complete explanation of why head coach Steve Nash froze him. Jaylen Brown used the pick-and-roll three times in a row in the final quarter to create opportunities to displace Griffin. Brown continued to use his speed advantage to eat Griffin, and even attracted other Nets defenders to help defend and create space for ambush shooters.
