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A quick update

Late last week, I began upgrading the website. One of the big draws about moving to Ghost was having a forward-facing site that can generate growth via SEO. It's a long-term play, but one I hope pays off.

Therefore, the aesthetic of the site was, and is, important to me.

The problem is, upon making the changes, I broke a few things in the background. Hence the lack of coverage for games three and four.

The biggest errors have now been fixed. I'm still making some tweaks to get everything to where I want it to be, though – so if you're on the site and run into any issues, let me know.

Anyway, I didn't want to go another day without getting a post up.

So, while today's post will be short and sweet, I wanted to share some thoughts on a tweak Boston made to one of its primary early offensive actions on Sunday. More importantly, why that tweak worked, and why I hope we see more of it.

The action in question

Before we look at how the Celtics altered their primary action, it's worth looking at the action in question: "Quick Fist" or "Wide Fist," depending on which labelling system to prefer.

A quick note: "Fist" is just another way of referencing a screen. It's used at the end of this play call because the first action, "Quick or Wide," is followed by a screen.

Let's look at what a "Quick/Wide" action actually looks like...

As you can see in the above clip, a "Quick or Wide" action is simple. It's an early offense set of movements designed to get a scoring threat the rock while the defense is still setting up. The screening nature of the action often forces an early switch, which can also generate quick mismatches.

There are two primary looks out of this action.

1. The player comes off the screen and curls toward the paint – as Jayson Tatum does in the above clip.
2. The play comes off the screen and receives a pass around the top of the perimeter.

There's no right or wrong way to run this action. It's a read-and-react set that allows teams to get into their offense at pace – hence the name "Quick."

Under Joe Mazzulla, Boston has leaned into this early offensive sequence, with the slight tweak of having the screen receiver (Tatum in the above clip) flow into setting a screen for the ball handler.

Remember, another name for a screen is "Fist," which is where the play call comes from. Here's what it looks like, and I'm sure you will recognize it from the billions of times the Celtics run this set early in the shot clock.

As you can see, it's the same action, only the screen receiver then sets a screen for the ball-handler. In the first clip, you see Tatum set the screen, in the second it is Neemias Queta.

The difference here is that the "Fist" action generates an angle pick-and-roll, which provides multiple opportunities out of the action. At times, the strong side corner will be empty, and at others, it will be filled (like in both of the clips above).

Boston can then flow into whatever PnR offense it chooses.

However, the Orlando Magic have been defending this action incredibly well. From refusing the switch to icing the ball-handler, the Magic have enjoyed success when looking to contain the Celtics out of this action.

So, Mazzulla and his coaching staff made some adjustments.

The Tweak

Rather than just having the screen receiver flow into another screen, Boston had both players from the "Quick/Wide" action pivot into a stagger, thus turning the play from "Quick Fist" to "Quick Stagger."

By implementing the stagger, the Celtics are forcing the defense to navigate a total of three screens across both sides of the court. It's incredibly difficult to resist a switch when navigating so many bodies. As you can see in the above clip, the Magic does a solid job of staying home on the first two screens (the screen away plus the first of the stagger screens), but as Tatum comes off, Kristpas Porzingis, a switch is made to try and contain Tatum's drive. Of course, that doesn't work, and he bullies his way to the rim.

Here's another example.

The beauty of adding a stagger action into this play call is the optionality it provides the team. The Celtics like to run a read-and-react offense, and by having two screeners attacking a defense in motion, they can pick and choose which ways to try and generate their points.

In the above clip, it's Porzingis who gets his numbers called. He waits for Derrick White to come off Hauser's screen before quickly slipping his screen and ducking into a post-up. The result is a mismatch in the post, which generates a foul and sends Porzingis to the line.

Here's one more example...

Once again, the Celtics flow into a "Quick Stagger," however, this time, the Magic's defense switches early and looks to deny Tatum using the second screen. Luke Kornet recognizes the change in coverage and dives toward the rim, with the ball trailing him from a Tatum-made entry pass. A slight shove kills a scoring play, but allows Kornet to quickly make a read and find Horford wide open in the corner.

While the shot didn't fall, this is another example of how the Celtics have adjusted their approach throughout the series. Simply adding a second screener into this sequence opened up a bunch of different opportunities and actions for Boston to exploit.

Spamming an action

You may have noticed that all three "Quick Stagger" actions I shared were from the 2nd quarter of Sunday's game. That's because, in the NBA, when you find something that works, you keep going back to it until the defense takes it away. Orlando found ways to mitigate Boston's usage of a "Quick Stagger" throughout the game, but whenever the Celtics went back to it, good things happened (for the most part).

It's also worth noting that the Celtics did open up their playbook a little in game four. If they start leaning on any of those additional actions tonight, I'll try and focus on them in the coming days!

For now, though, enjoy your Tuesday, and GO CELTICS.

And before I go...

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Let's close this one out and turn our attention to the New York Knicks, that is, unless Detroit pulls off a miracle.