'Put It On The Floor': How the Lakers looked to stymy the Boston Celtics

The Lakers had a game plan, and the Celtics roster was too tired to overcome it.

The Los Angeles Lakers came into Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics with a clear plan: make Joe Mazzulla’s team shoot off the bounce.

“Make ‘em put it on the floor,” Anthony Davis told Allie LaForce on the sidelines after the game. “They shoot very well when they get a catch-and-shoot, but it kind of drops significantly when they have to put it on the floor, so that was our game-plan, don’t let them get no catch-and-shoot. But, at the same time, we want to make shots as well.”

The Celtics scored 32 of their 96 points off the catch, going 11-for-27 from the field. 25 of those shots came on the perimeter, with the Celtics making 10 of them — a 40% conversion rate.

On the flip side, the Celtics took 28 shots off the bounce, 16 of them coming from deep, with a 25% conversion rate on the perimeter. The Celtics shot 28.6% overall when taking pull-up shots against the Lakers.

So, now we know how the Celtics fared in terms of catch-and-shoot volume/success compared to off-the-dribble volume/success, but how does that compare to their season averages? Did the Lakers really impact the Celtics shot diet in the way they wanted?

This season, the Celtics average 30.3 catch-and-shoot attempts per game. They generate 34.8 points off those shots and shoot 38.4% from 3-point range.

Now, I’m no mathematician, but there seems to be minimal variance between the Celtics' season-wide catch-and-shoot numbers and their performance against the Lakers. Furthermore, the Celtics actually had a slightly higher efficiency rating against Redick’s team than the season average.

The truth is, the Celtics did lose this game due to their poor shooting off the bounce, but it wasn’t because the Lakers denied catch-and-shoot opportunities. Instead, their inability to create good looks when driving the lane was a primary symptom of their struggles.

On the season, the Celtics shoot 16.5 attempts per game via their 37.6 drives, knocking down 9 of those shots. Against the Lakers, the Celtics took 19 shots via drives but only converted 4 of them, giving them a 21.1% conversion rate.

They drove slightly more than normal and converted at a considerably worse clip. Based on their season averages, the Celtics dropped an expected 10 points with their limitations at the rim.

According to Cleaning The Glass, they hit 31.8% of their shots within 4 feet of the basket outside of garbage time, despite those looks making up 29% of their total offense.

Here’s a good example of the Celtics' struggles at the rim. I saved this clip because I liked the timing of Jaylen Brown’s relocation, which opened up the drive for Holiday. LeBron James does a good job of denying Holiday a shot or pass, forcing him to put the rock on the floor. Unfortunately, he smoked the layup, which was indicative of the Celtics’ struggles throughout the night.

Even Jaylen Brown, often the Celtics best rim finisher and most explosive scorer, went 1-of-5 at the rim.

The Lakers did a great job of shrinking the middle of the floor. That way, they could collapse on drives without over committing help defenders and leaving kick-out opportunities on the table. This is likely what Davis was talking about when discussing limiting catch-and-shoot attempts.

This coverage allowed the Lakers to pinch at the point of entry while also closing down space around the rim, making it extremely difficult to drive the rock into the paint. That same coverage also helps deter kick-outs, as the help doesn’t have far to travel to recover and contest catch-and-shoot threes.

Perhaps that’s why Boston registered three fewer passes out of drives throughout the game — not that it made any difference. The Celtics average 4 assists on drive-and-kick per night, and they ended the Lakers game with…yup, you guessed it, 4 assists.

Still, Brown is usually explosive enough to finish through this type of coverage. However, after the game, he admitted he was carrying a slight injury. He had rolled his ankle in the Jan. 18 loss to the Atlanta Hawks and tweaked the injury during the second quarter vs. Los Angeles.

“I’m still trying to get my burst and my explosion back,” Brown said. “I didn’t finish a lot of baskets around the rim, just because it’s messing with me a little bit. But it will get there... And then I’ve been just a little bit banged up, but pushing through,” Brown said. “Tonight wasn’t a great showing for our team energy-wise. I missed a lot of baskets around the rim and my team needs me to make those. So I need to be able to produce for my team.”

Here’s another example of how the Lakers shrunk the floor, this time from Payton Pritchard, who smoked multiple layups and middies throughout the night.

Notice how the Lakers are positioned. They’re guarding man-to-man but are zoning up on the perimeter, allowing them to pinch/dig on penetration but also to quickly close out to shooters on the perimeter. They’ve also got a paint presence as they slightly cheat off the dunker spot.

When looking at how the two off-ball perimeter defenders are situated, it’s easy to see how they could jump the passing lane and get out in transition. It’s also obvious how easy a dig-and-recover (jumping toward the ball to remove space and pressure the dribble) would be to execute.

As you watch the clip, you will see Pritchard attempt to penetrate off the bounce on two occasions. First, Austin Reaves shuts it down with a hard dig. Then, the Pritchard tries attacking the other side of the floor, but the defense collapses on him while keeping its shape, meaning there are no high-quality passes available to him.

What I find interesting is that this possession is deep into garbage time, with the game already won. Yet, the Lakers stuck to the defensive principles that had helped them build a lead. If your deep bench is executing like this, then you know the game plan has worked, and everybody has been brought in to execute it, regardless of the score.

So, when circling back to Davis’ comments, it’s clear that the Lakers approach was more nuanced than making ‘'Em put the ball on the floor.” Instead, the Lakers looked to limit Boston’s drive-and-kick offense, took away easy looks at the rim, and closed down space in the mid-range to limit the Celtics’ opportunities.

In fairness, the Celtics did counter this coverage with additional work out of the post. They took 8 shots on 14 post-ups, converting at a 75% clip. They passed out of 4 of those, possessions, too. Here’s how those post-up numbers compare to the season averages.

The Celtics were playing their fifth game in seven nights. Heavy legs were certainly part of their issues against the Lakers. Couple that fatigue with multiple players carrying some form of injury, I’m looking at you, Brown and Holiday, and the overall picture starts to become clear.

Yes, the Lakers had a solid (but nuanced) defensive plan to slow down the third-ranked offense in the NBA, but the players who executed that offense were also drained. It’s been a tough week for the C’s, and that’s before we factor in the amount of travel they’ve had this month.

As such, this loss was a good mixture of defensive execution, schedule fatigue and lingering injury problems. You tip your cap at the Lakers, and then you look ahead to Saturday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks and beyond.

However, I will say, just as I was concerned when the Warriors set out a defensive blueprint on Nov. 7, the Lakers may have provided teams with another avenue to explore moving forward. Mazzulla’s team is more than capable of adjusting, but it will be interesting to see who else (if anyone) adopts a similar approach in the coming weeks. For now, though, I think this is one you watch, learn from and then flush. Bring on the Mavericks and a repeat of last season’s NBA Finals!

Oh, and while you’re here, let me know your thoughts!