Playoff Breakdown: Struggling to Create Advantages on Offense & Poor Defense Doesn’t Help Either
Do you remember the first game against the Boston Celtics? The one where the Miami Heat got blown out and couldn’t score at all. Well, it happened again.
This was a bad game on both ends and this emphasized both issues. By not being able to get stops, it meant fewer opportunities in transition and more against a set defense. By not making shots, it meant more transition opportunities for the Celtics. The Heat were getting beat on both ends — per Cleaning the Glass, they had a 105.1 offensive rating (27th percentile) and a 145.6 defensive rating (1st and the worst this season by 14! points per 100 possessions)
Offensive Breakdown:
In Game 1 we saw Jimmy Butler go get his and it didn’t matter what defense was throwing at him. You could see the aggression in that game. He ended up with 29 points on 11-for-18 shooting, but I didn’t feel those points the same way — maybe it’s because this game was out of reach early and his points didn’t seem to affect the game much.
He still faced drop on some of his pick-and-rolls, but he didn’t seem like he was looking to score as his first option. Instead, he was looking to set others up, and then if nothing was opened, he’d take the shot.
In the first clip, Butler gets a pick from Bam Adebayo, and look how deep Al Horford is dropping. That is as much space as you can need to get an open look, but you can see from how he was attacking. He wasn’t going straight to the rim or hoping to get that shot himself, but rather looking for that kick out.
I understand wanting to get the teammates involved too, which is important if you want to have a good offense. However, no one’s playmaking is as effective if they’re not looking to score themselves first. The player must first make himself a threat to get the defense to react to him. That’s when the player can see where the windows are opening.
There also needs to be a different way to get Butler going.
Marcus Smart defending these pick-and-rolls (PnR) is stopping the entire action. Against the Philadelphia 76ers, Butler had success in those empty-side PnRs against the drop. However, if Smart just goes under and beats him to the spot, then that negates everything.
In the second clip, that was some solid defense from Smart. But that again shows that you can’t simply go to an empty side PnR with Butler, especially with PJ Tucker as the screener. Robert Williams doesn’t respect him on this play and is able to just drop the entire possession, preventing any drive. There needs to be a mix-up. Someone else screening for Butler
Aside from Butler, Tyler Herro also didn’t provide any advantages off of his actions either.
In the first clip, they go to a double drag for Herro, but with the Celtics switching everything, that negates the entire play. In the next clip, there is another switch, putting Herro against Horford. There is nothing being done on that possession either. A couple of dribbles and an attempt to attack, then committing a turnover.
That’s also not entirely on him. I’ve talked about the Celtics keeping shooters one pass away to make the decision to help at the nail more difficult. Here, there is Butler on the opposite wing, which makes the decision for Smart to help much easier.
The third clip is another concern. Herro doesn’t seem decisive off actions. Here, he comes off a handoff from Tucker but he doesn’t seem to know what he’s going to do. Is he going to drive, pass, kick, shoot a jump shot? Or maybe consider taking a floater, but then mid-way through deciding to pass it out for no real advantage. That is not the Herro we’ve seen post-all-star break.
In the last play, the Celtics mixed up the coverage and decided to throw a blitz at him. It didn’t end well. The minute the defense sends two at the ball, there is an advantage somewhere. It’s on Herro to make the correct pass before the defense is able to recover.
Contrast to Gabe Vincent when he faced an aggressive defense
In the first clip, a quick handoff from Tucker in semi-transition. The Celtics are aggressive on that show with both Williams III and Tatum going at Vincent. The difference here is Vincent makes a snappy decision to pass to the rolling Tucker. That reaction is fast.
In the second clip, they run an action with Adebayo. The Celtics again send two at the ball, but Vincent makes another fast decision to pass to Adebayo on that roll.
Finally, I’ve mentioned this play in the last post that stood out and they run it again.
It’s a nice play design for Herro. Two guys at the elbow, Herro makes the pass to one of them, and the other sets a flare screen. This will either lead to an open 3 or like in this play, Herro will be able to attack off a catch.
Defensive Breakdown:
We got to talk about Dewayne Dedmon. I have no idea what the defensive scheme is for him and that is causing many issues, which leads to open 3s.
We’ve seen that with Dedmon, the coverage is most likely him showing, blitzing, and trapping. But this doesn’t seem like he’s executing that the correct way. I don’t think you can play him in that defensive coverage if you constantly give up open looks.
In all these possessions, Dedmon goes to show and ends up blitzing. This, however, results in a simple kick-out, swing the ball, and it’s an open 3. On two occasions, Victor Oladipo is forced with defending two guys on the weakside and that’s where the 3s are coming from.
3s are also coming from helping off. Now, I like Tucker’s defense, especially when it comes to defending Tatum on the ball. The problem is with his lower-body injuries and age, chasing Tatum around will result in times when he gets beat. This will force other defenders to help on that roll or cut and lead to open kick-outs.
In the second clip, Tatum beats him again off the catch and this time Adebayo helps at the nail, which leads to an open 3 for Smart.
The Celtics shot 8-for-16 on open 3s and 10-for-14 on wide-open 3s.
Finally, the defense was solid early in the game and these two stood out.
Sometimes having that ability to switch with ease helps tremendously. In the first clip, Tatum is coming off a pindown, but instead of having Tucker chase him the entire way, you can simply switch Adebayo on to him, which prevents the pull-up and a drive. Vincent is able to stunt too because he’s helping off Smart. He closes out, recovers, and forces Smart into a tough shot.
