How The Celtics Countered Orlando's Elite Defense in Game 2

Quick reminder that the Discord server is now live! Head on over by clicking here.

No Jayson Tatum, No Problem!

Joe Mazzulla made a couple of smart adjustments heading into game two – from the amount of post-ups we saw, the way the team generated paint touches, and how they looked to limit the Orlando Magic's impact on the perimeter.

With a few days between games, we will have a chance to look at a couple of alterations that Boston made. However, today, I wanted to focus on the "flat" actions the Celtics ran, and why they made a difference.

So, I'm veering away from the usual post-game format today. Instead, we're going to dive right in.

On Tuesday, I wrote about how the short-roll could be a weapon in game two. And while there was a sprinkling of more short-roll throughout the game, another aspect I touched on was far more prevalent – and that was running "flat" actions.

Flat is a way of saying the three players who aren't involved at the start of the play are spread across or near the baseline. The Celtics leaned into this quite heavily when operating in the half-court.

The idea of spacing the baseline is simple.

Orlando is at its best when operating with high pick-up points. They like to hustle the ball-handler, deny cutters, jump in front of screens – essentially, they like to take away actions and force teams to think on the fly. Most of what the Magic do, is done on the perimeter.

So, playing a five-out system, or even a 4-out-1-in system, is essentially playing into their hands. But what happens if you take away three or two of their perimeter defenders and force them to guard their man in off-ball roles? Well, that was a question Mazzulla and his coaching staff decided to pose.

Some of the benefits also include

• More space to drive, once you beat your defender
• Plenty of mid-range shooting opportunities
• Limited help defense – both in terms of gap and switches
• Easier to attack the two defenders up top with ghost screens, pick-and-pop, etc.

Take a look at the above clip. You have Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser in the corners. Two of the best sharpshooters in the NBA are spacing the floor on either wing. Luke Kornet, a drive and lob threat, is in the dunker spot. That means three of the Magic's defenders are all occupied away from the ball. They can't load up. They can't send gap help.

By running the above action, which is a 3-5 flat (3 = Jaylen Brown, 5 = Porzingis), the Celtics were able to try to force a favorable switch before attacking a mismatch. If the Magic had trapped on the PnR, Brown had Porzingis rolling, which likely would have forced a reaction and left a shooter open.

Here's another clip of Boston running a flat action. Note how the Celtics quickly flow into more of a spaced look after the initial penetration is made. The Celtics begin with a Pritchard and Porzingis PnR.

Pritchard gets downhill, hits a paint touch, and feeds Holiday, who has relocated onto the strong side wing. Holiday's drive allows Pritchard to relocate, creating a mini two-man corner action between the two guards. The play ends in a bucket.

Once again, Orlando's defense was compromised for the majority of this possession. As the play begins, you have Derrick White and Hauser in the corners. Holiday is in the dunker spot. Porzignis and Pritchard are both above the break. Where can Orlando send help from? How can they pressure the initial play beyond a standard hedge, show, switch, or drop?

Once the Celtics penetrate, the offense becomes fluid again, and actions begin to unfold. Because penetrating the defense is where the Celtics had trouble in the opening game. Once Boston starts getting paint touches, everything else in its offensive arsenal begins to unlock itself.

Let's look at one more example.

What I liked about this play, is that it toyed with some of the Magic's defense while also bending the rules of a 'flat' alignment. Rather than spacing across the baseline, Boston went into somewhat of a fill-and-replace with their screener. To begin the play, Holiday was around the nail. As Horford rolled off his screen into the dunker spot, Holiday popped onto the perimeter to become the ball-handler.

The Celtics then tried to flow into a "zoom action" before Franz Wagner killed the hand-off. So, Holiday fed Brown with a pass, ghosted his screen, and cut toward the baseline. The reason this is important is because as Holiday cut downhill, he dragged his defender with him, ensuring Orlando was once again spaced at the edge of the court, allowing Brown to drive on one defender without worrying about someone digging at his dribble or rotating over to load up to the ball.

What's particularly impressive about Mazzulla's adjustment is how quickly the team implemented it. Flat actions haven't been a staple of Boston's offense this season—they've primarily relied on their five-out spacing to create driving lanes and kick-out opportunities. Yet, playoff basketball demands adaptability, and the Celtics showed they can modify their approach when a defense takes away their primary actions and/or options.

Looking ahead to Game 3, I would expect Orlando to counter these flat actions by having a defender split the difference between the dunker spot threat and a corner shooter, as that would free up an additional body to either pressure the perimeter or operate as a free safety in the mid-range.

The chess match continues.

If the Magic do adjust to Boston's flat actions, it will be interesting to see what Mazzulla has up his sleeve. After all, we're still in the first round, so you don't want to give away you're entire playbook too early. It's like in literally every Fast and Furious movie where someone always hits the nitrous too early.

Of course, this one action wasn't the only adjustment. Which leads me to ask you what other adjustments you noticed in Game 2? Let me know in the comments section, or better yet, over on the Discord server!

The countdown to game three begins...